Obsidian Dreams
by Alucard1959
Summary: Obsidian is a calming stone, it is said to protect sensitive souls from depression and pain. It is the stone of the soft hearted and gentle. That is the same new gem that has fallen into the laps of the Crystal Gems, a mystery who goes by a human name, Naruto Uzumaki. Watch as the story unfolds, bonds are made, and history is made. NaruHarem, language, adult themes.
1. A Kindergarten Reunion

**Hello there,**

 **I wanted to say before you start that ever since I watched the piolet episode of Steven Universe I was HOOKED on it. From the colorful characters to the amazing and distinct art design, I love it all. So one day I wonder, why not marry two of my favorite shows together! I started right away on the outline for this story and I have to say, it's one of my favorite passion projects I've thought of. But, unfortunately, I kept it to the side because I had a lot of other things to do. I had Challenges to jump on, I had my other stories to update, and I especially had family problems that needed my utmost focus. But, seeing as I do have a few weeks or so before I am tied back up with jobs and other adult things I've decided to put this story out there and see what response it gets.**

 **So, without further a due, I give you, Obsidian Dreams!**

 **Prologue: A Kindergarten Reunion!**

 **I own Nothing**

Kindergarten, such an odd name for a vast canyon. Unseen by the humans that inhabit this world, this huge chasm held numerous holes are carved from the rock faces; each one once holding a single being of massive destructive power. Huge columns embedded with red gemstones protrude from the walls, and massive machines dot the landscape. It was a foreboding mess of old gem junk and high, foreboding rock formations. To most, this place would seem uninhabitable, a terrible location for any who dare try to settle here. But someone disagreed, they concocted thousands of creatures in the vast holes that are carved into the faces of these canyon walls.

Once there were thousands, now, only one. A single being that hung his cap in such an unsuitable home. This one was resting in the high holes close to the top of this so called Kindergarten, his feet dangling out from the edge of his little hole. The hole was dark; so dark, in fact, that the only indication that anything was alive in there were the legs dangling forlornly out of the mouth of this cave, lightly swaying back and forth.

The creatures feet may seem lively but deep in the hole's core the body that was attached to those legs was still, almost catatonic; it's slowly rising chest was the only indication of it's physical condition. The being seemed covered in a thin layer of dust and mineral, growing each passing day as he continues to rest, his body weak and unresponsive.

The hole in which he lies in was small, fitted for something quite smaller than him. The only piece that seemed to fit was his torso and arms, any more of himself shoved in the hole would have his head caving through the back wall. Speaking of his head, adorned on top of this thick skull was a mop of dusty blonde hair; both dusty thanks to equal parts genetics and equal parts dirt. His hair was hidden thanks to a hood lazily pulled over his head, covering his eyes from the rising sun that usually accompanies mornings. His attire was of a raggedy pale cloak which was riddled with cuts and rips, almost as if it's seen the thrill of battle.

As the fog settled into the chasm, blocking all light from the outside world, the ball of what seemed like flesh let out a content sigh, the sun has finally been covered, leaving him to his lounging ways.

So, you could bet that it came as a surprising annoyance once the creature heard a commotion rise from the depths of this canyon. At first it was simple laughter and chirps of conversation going back and forth between two parties, but it soon took on a louder tone. People began to scream, they're words yelled at the top of their lungs as clashes of leather and pearl slapping against one another echoed through the chasm. At the apex of this, a loud impact was heard and felt from all angles of this crack in the earth. Dust fell from the dormant creatures ceiling, sprinkling him with a fresh coat of minerals while also shaking him from his slumbering haze.

"I didn't ask for this," A voice called out in the chasm, this deep-rooted crack through the earth. This voice came from a distant form, one in which this creature was unwilling to move and find it. The words were filled with woe and pain, such a sorrow-filled tone carried itself through the chasm. "I didn't ask to be made!" Another harsh sentence cut through the moment of silence like a knife; the hard, blunt words brought this person's rage and self-loathing to the forefront, throwing subtlety out the window and going for more of a shock and awe focus. It was raw, uncut pain that could cut someone to the very bone.

The voice soon reached the ears of this unknown entity, his feet slowing from a swing to a stationary position. His eyes opened, revealing piercing blues against a white canvas. Once his eyes opened, his body shifted around, knocking dirt from his already filthy cloak; he seemed as stiff as a board, almost as if his bones were finally moving after what seemed like years. As the second wave of words rushed over the man's mind he couldn't help but find the voice oddly familiar. It wasn't a subtle recollection at first, it was hazy, almost nonexistent, a bleeding memory that began to fade into the background. 5,995 years would do that to someone's memory. But mulling the words around in his head, listening carefully to the voice that spoke it so clearly, the image he drew was that of an old friend, an old playground buddy from way back when.

"Amethyst," he whispered, his eyes widening at the realization.

He jumped from his perch, descending the chasm without a care in the world, his feet directed towards the ground and his arms out to the side. The only emotion that was on his features was that of determination. He landed quite softly, kicking up only a moderate amount of dirt on his landing, before taking off towards the sound of arguing and bickering. His home seemed off, something about the terrain and the decor of busted machines and useless junk seemed to be….off tilter. As he surveyed his land, jumping over a few toppled red crystal giants, he came across a young boy. He was nothing special, a small little sprout with a thick build. From what he could tell from the back from the boy's head he had curly, dark brown hair. He wears a reddish-pink T-shirt with a yellow star on it. He also wears blue jeans and reddish-pink sandals.

This was a odd place for a human child, he seemed to think, inching closer and closer to the boy, hearing the frantic chatter of two bickering people arguing back and forth. He laid in wait until there was a lull in this conversation, standing silently behind this unknown child who was oblivious to the new arrival.

What else could go wrong today, Pearl seemed to think as she squatted in a small hole carved into the cave's face, staring sadly at her crying comrade in arms. Stress was one thing Pearl hated more than anything, and today was nothing but one big stress wave after another. First she was told by Garnet that Steven and Amethyst snuck away to god knows where, but thanks to Garnet's future sight, she was given a few possibilities. One of which involved Amethyst taking Steven on a train ride back too this…..place! It was a hideous, grotesque reminder of what her kind could and would do if push came to shove. This Kindergarten was one of many breeding grounds that evil, tainted gems grew other gems during the war, pumping out their own little army like they were nothing but cattle; sheep for the slaughter. Amethyst was one of those sheep, a byproduct of that giant mistake, but that didn't mean she was bad.

Pearl saw the good within her; she was funny, clever at times, and even though she got on her nerves a lot, she truly loves her; Pearl believed that she was the only good thing that came from this place. She thought Amethyst knew that, but apparently she didn't.

Amethyst attacked her, bring years of pent up aggression and pain to the surface as they traded blows. The fight lasted a few minutes but the words spoken would last years. Amethyst believed that Pearl thought she was just a mistake, an embarrassment to her and Garnet; their battle moments ago attested to that feeling. Everyday she felt reminded of everything she hated about herself, that she was nothing but a thrown together gem, a factory made piece of hardware to fit a select purpose and then tossed to the waste side. The only two people to ever make her feel otherwise was Rose Quartz, a wonderful and kind woman who never gave up on Amethyst even in the darkest of time….and him, Obsidia-.

"Amethyst, please, I don't want you two to fight anymore!" A boy at the entrance of the hole said, tears seeming to build up in the corner of his eyes. Oh right, and Steven too. He' s always let her be free and act on her impulses, unlike Pearl. Always stifling her, trying to make her fall into line like the good little mistake she is!

"Leave me alone Steven," Amethyst whimpered, twisting around until she faced the wall of her past home, "you too, Pearl. I just want to be alone right now."

Pearl couldn't say anything else, she was too hurt to speak. She tried everything, apologizing, expressing her true thoughts and feelings about Amethyst, what else could she do? I guess, she thought, the best thing to do is hope she will come around eventually. Pearl knew she couldn't force this issue, not unless she wanted Amethyst to drift further and further away.

So, with a heavy sigh, Pearl went to leave. I say "went" because once she turned to see Steven standing at the entrance, she was shocked and terrified to notice a tall stranger standing mere feet behind the plump young man.

"Steven! Behind you," she shrilled, alerting both Amethyst and Steven to the newly arrived threat. Amethyst tried to get a look at the figure but thanks to Pearls battle ready stance, it was hard to make out just who this person was. Pearl quickly jumped from the hole, her pearl spear poised for the attack as Steven sneaks behind her, fearful but also curious as to who this newcomer was. The tip of her staff was now inches from the person's throat, "who are you and what are you doing here?" The being raised his arms to the gem user, surrendering to her poised weapon and her dangerous glare. As the man's arms rose his eyes began to wonder. He looked to the hole Pearl was inches from and found a shuffling puff of hair crawling it's way out of it.

The puff soon grew into a person, a gem to be more precise, if the gem half revealed under her shirt was of any indication. This gem had long, very pale, light-purple hair which covered her left eye. She had plump, lively lips with pale and bright plum-colored skin, and a heavier, more curvaceous build than her friend who still kept her spear at the ready. His eyes widened at the sight of the plum colored gem, "Amethyst!" He decried, ducking under Pearl's spear with speed that even she couldn't follow, leaving both Steven and Pearl shocked.

In an instant, the cloaked mystery was kneeling before Amethyst, his arms slung around the short gem's neck and enveloping her in a spine shattering hug, one in which Amethyst was severely embarrassed from.

"H-Hey! Get off me, you creep!" She yelled, shape shifting her form into a slimy serpent as she slithered from his grasp. She quickly changed back to her usual form and drew her weapon, ready to whip this prick into submission if he tries to cuddle with her again. "Who the heck are you and how do you know my name?!"

"A-Amethyst, it's me! I know it's been a while but-" his words died in this throat, "Oh, right!" he decried in a stroke of clarification, "this silly things still on isn't it," he points to his hood which casted a shroud of shadows and darkness across his face, making it look like his face was almost non-existent. He quickly corrected his mistake by flipping said piece of attached cloth from his head, revealing a angular, pale face to the crystal gems. Pearl was confused at his action, was his face something she should remember? Was this someone she's met before? It must be, if Amethyst knows someone she would have told the group, of course she would! Right?

While Pearl and Steven's reaction was that of confusion, Amethyst was filled with joy and tears. Her realization and reaction came in waves, at first the face meant nothing, a slightly handsome face topped with pale blonde, messy hair; what of it? Then, squinting slightly towards the blonde specter, the pieces began to fall together. Her memories started to come back to her in a rapid rate, each moment of her youth flashing by her, each image held both her and a single man next to her.

"O-Obsidian!" she cried, jumping into the arms of the now named Obsidian, hugging him with all her might; something in which he quickly respericated. Tears flowed from both parties, each greatful for this moment together as both sat in a comfortable silence, basking in the feeling of being reunited for the first time in over 5,000 years.

"W-What's going on here, Amethyst?" Pearl asked but by the way it was delivered, it seemed more like demanded. Pearl seemed to let her impatience got the best of her, unwilling to allow both gems to have their moment. Amethyst ignored Pearl's question and opted to keep her face nuzzled in Obsidian's cloak, allowing her tears to soak it.

"You're back, I can't believe you're back!" Amethyst whimpered as she tightened her grip around his throat, shaking in his strong embrace. "A-Are you really back? For good this time?"

"Believe it," Obsidian cheered, breaking their embrace for only a moment to gaze into her tearful orbs, seeing the fragile state she was in at this moment in time. "I'm not going anywhere. Not as long as I know you're by my side."

"Amethyst, who is he? Do you know him," This time it was Steven who decided to add his two cents into this one sided conversation. Soon enough the two broke away from their embrace, both flashing each other their biggest and brightest smile as they wiped their faces clean of tear stains.

"Steven, Pearl, you won't believe who this is!" Amethyst cheered, rushing to her friends side and pushed them closer to this pale stranger, getting a nervous gettering noise from Pearl and a excited giggle from Steven. "This is Obsidian! Me and him go way back! We were Kindergarten buddies!" Her smile couldn't be any bigger even if she tired as she introduced her team to her long lost friend. After forcing her team closer to him she rushed back to his side, grasping his hand in hers as he slowly rises to his feet, smiling at the beaming gem with the same gusto she presented.

"Hello, I am Obsidian, but I prefer to be called Naruto when I'm around friendly faces." The now nicknamed Naruto produced a hand for both to shake, but still keeping a firm, loving grip on Amethyst's small hand, unwilling to let her slip through his grip again. Steven quickly and eagerly took his hand, clasping his big, calloused palms with both of his much smoother hands, shaking it with all the strength he could muster; I suppose he wanted to make a good impression on the new gem.

"Wow! Cool, you knew Amethyst way back then?" Steven asked, his eyes full of stars and wonder.

Naruto chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm, "that's right, you could say I was the first to get a look at the Amethyst experience!" Naruto couldn't smile any harder at this point as he saw the cheerful Amethyst blush at his statement, recalling all the foolish things she did way back when. And if you think the hijinx she gets into now is bad, it was even worse when she was fresh out of the hole.

Once Pearl was presented with his hand, she was less enthusiastic to touch it. "Yes, well, Naruto was it?" She questioned nervously, getting a simple nod from this stranger, "it's nice to meet an old friend of Amethyst but, uhhh, I don't, umm, how do I put this….why exactly are you here?"

"PEARL!" Amethyst hissed, glaring daggers at her pointy nosed friend, surprised at her harsh bluntness, "does it matter? he's my best friend and he's back. That's all that really matters to me and that's all that should matter to you too!" Many would call Amethyst foolish for wholeheartedly backing this stranger she believes to be her friend more than her actual friend Pearl, but those who would say such things truly don't know the inner workings of Amethyst. This was a face she's wished to see for so long and this was a warm embrace she's tried to duplicate for over 5,000 years, this wasn't something she was willing to give up without a fight and Pearl at this moment was trying to take away the one thing she's wished for, for years. So, you would imagine her reaction to be less than inviting.

"Do you not find it strange that your "friend" from Kindergarten just so happens to show up today of all days, just after we gathered up a lot of those other worldly tech balls? It just seems to coincidental if you ask me," Pearl observes, her eyes narrowing as she looks the blonde up and down rather skeptically. Pearl was rather confused about Amethyst brash denial of this odd situation. Sure she knew Amethyst was a instant kind of girl, willing to base everything on her own compass, but she would never put the group or Steven for that matter in danger. Something was up, this man or the memories she's made with this man must have meant a lot to her.

"Funny, I don't think I asked you at all," Amethyst murmured.

But, unfortunately, Pearl was a skeptic and couldn't just allow this man to go just on good faith and Amethyst's naive word, she had no idea how this gem got here, what he wanted, or what he could do. Just like that other gem they found skulking around those deserted warp pads, she didn't want to take a chance. "It is our job to protect this world from danger and I can't help but feel like this _male_ gem is nothing but that. So, I'll ask once more, why exactly are you here, Obsidian?"

"Pearl, please believe me when I say I mean you nor this planet any harm," Naruto implored, his face a mix of worry and nervous anticipation. He just met this woman and she was already giving him the third degree. He was finally reunited with the single being that ever gave him a purpose in life and he couldn't rejoice that fact because of such a harsh welcome from Amethyst's new friend. But, he didn't want to make a scene or embarrasses his little friend so, he played along. It's best to be helpful and cooperative in times like these. "If I did, I would have done it years ago."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, a short and a rather matter of fact tone.

"I've been on this planet for 5 years now, not once have I caused any of it's inhabitants any harm," he calmly stated, patently taking Pearl's questions in stride. There was something very calming about this gem, an aura of….serenity, nothing from his height to his expression gave off a defensive or aggressive personality. He almost seemed like he wouldn't harm a fly, but anyone could fake it. "Well, except if you count those poor creatures I startled on my re-entry."

"Re-entry? Startled?" She repeated once more, trying to find something to back up her rather unbacked theory. Something about this gem just didn't feel right about to Pearl, each minute spent with this male gem made her even more skeptical of his intentions. Maybe he was a defective Kindergarten Gem who was just woken from his slumber, maybe he was a more sophisticated clone designed to wear a gem's face, who knows; this was far too stressful to think about. She didn't care if she sounded baty or negative, she wasn't willing to put this world or Amethyst at risk just because Amethyst is blinded by this….thing!

"Of course, how else would I have arrived back on earth?" Naruto humored, cracking a simple smile at the skeptical Pearl, trying to lighten her mood just a tad. She seemed so distant, so nervous, he never wanted to cause someone so much stress and unease, especially a friend of Amethyst's. "Poor humans, they scattered so quickly I couldn't apologize. It's like they haven't seen a gem spaceship before."

Naruto's rather odd sense of humor was soon silenced when he felt a sharp tip poke against his pale nose, Pearl's spear now tapping his face with the intent to kill if necessary. "Amethyst, step away from him! We can't trust him!" She was quick with her strike, a quick thrust to his nose would have pierced any normal skull; to bad she was dealing with an unknown entity, a wildcard if you will. He slipped her spears range with a brisk dodge, separating both him and Amethyst's hands from one another.

"Pearl, what are you doing?" Steven questioned, staring between the three waring gems. Pearl held a firm yet nervous stare at the new gem, while Amethyst glare deepened towards her sister in arms who just separated her from her friend. Naruto was the only one who seemed to hold nothing but a nervous, perplexed expression as he shows no indication he was going to fight Pearl back.

"Steven, stay behind me. We don't know what he's capable of," Pearl orders, gripping her spear with both hands as she readies herself to lunge once more at the strange gem.

"Stop it, Pearl! He hasn't done anything to us," Amethyst proclaimed bitterly, preparing her own weapon to defend her long lost friend. As Pearl jumps to prod her pointed weapon at the new arrival, she was stopped in her tracks by the leather bound, jewel encrusted whip of her friend, keeping her locked in place; mere inches from piercing the man's chest. "And I won't let you hurt him!"

"Let me go, you heard what he said," Pearl's eyes dilated, fear-filled. Underneath her skeptical attitude towards Naruto was a fearful gem hoping to protect what little she had left. She's never been one to keep her composure when it came to such hectic things like this, but showing utter fear in the face of a supposed enemy was even surprising for Amethyst. "He confessed to arriving here on a gem starship, the only place you could find something like that is from the Gem Homeworld! Don't you see? He came from the Gem Homeworld, he's just like those things we keep finding rummaging around the old Gem ruins, we can't trust him!"

"Please, calm down Pearl, I mean you no harm." Naruto said, trying to douse Pearl's rage that seemed directed solely at him. "I did come from the Gem Homeworld, but I can explain everything if you would just let-"

"Aha! See, he admits it! We can't let him near Steven or anyone else, Amethyst. He could be a danger to us all!" Pearl said, producing another spear from her creamy white gem atop her forehead as she allowed the other one, which was bounded by Amethyst, to disappear.

"I came here to find peace from those on the Gem Homeworld. I am nothing like them, I swear!" He explains, dodge another rain of spear strikes, seeming more fatigued as they continued onward. He soon stumbles on a piece of debris, leaving him on his backside, his eyes now at half mast and his breath ragged and scarce. "Please….I know you have no reason to trust me but please, let me speak. Afterwards, I will let you decide what to do with me. I won't put up a fight."

"...You have a minute," Pearl sighed but was unwilling to untrain her spear from Naruto's chest, if the minute was up and she wasn't satisfied with his answer this would spell the end of Obsidian, she will make sure of it. " _Take him out now, he's vulnerable"_ Pearl thought, her spear head pressing against his vulnerable chest, at the ready to take his life. She contemplated ending him here, giving him no time to explain himself but she knew she couldn't get away with it. Amethyst would be furious, maybe even willing to hurt her if it meant protecting this stranger. " _Why does this man mean so much to her?"_

"Thank you," he said, bowing his head in thanks and gratitude, "now, yes I did come from the Gem Homeworld, but you have to believe me I didn't go willingly, I assure you. During the first few years of my creation in Kindergarten Amethyst and I became close friends, we here inseparable. But, after those few years, a gem named Peridot came back to earth to check on the new hatchlings, but it seemed that me and Amethyst were the only ones to fully develop at the time."

"You now have 30 seconds left. Better make it fast, Obsidian." Pearl threatened, tapping the man's chest with the tip of her weapon, incurring him to probably speed up his explanation if he didn't want her spear to penetrate his chest cavity.

"I-I was taken by Peridot, she found potential in me. After that, I lived on the Gem Planet for over 5,995 years!" He stated skittishly, backing slowly off while the spear seemed to inch ever closer to puncturing his gem body. " But I soon realized they were destroying other gems for stepping out of turn and they were using the people of conquered planets as...as... Damn it!" He spurted out, his head twitching at his curse. Almost as if it was something like a glitch. "I-I'm sorry, that's all I can remember…..everything else except my arrival here is a blur. My memory…..i-it's fuzzy."

"Gem's have infallible recall, we cannot forget," Pearl stated firmly, her eyes narrowing harshly at the man's sprawled out form, her spear poking the boy's chest harshly. "You're lying, and your times up."

"I-I swear, that's all I know! AGH!" Naruto tried to plead but his words soon died in his throat to allow pain filled scream through, his body tightening within seconds. But it wasn't the spear that brought the pain, no, that was preparing itself to pierce through his chest, this was a different pain, a one that came from his back.

"Obsidian, what's wrong?!" Amethyst questioned, quickly rushing to his side to try and help him in any way she could. Her response was another dry scream escaping the poor man's lips as his body, shockingly, started to fade in and out of reality. His eyes dulled and his hair blackened, it was nothing either gem has seen before. Amethyst seemed distraught, frantically searching over his body to find something, anything that might be the cause of this. "Come on big guy, tell me what's wrong. A wink, a nod, give me something!"

Steven quickly came to her aid, throwing caution and Pearl's warnings to the wind. Someone that meant this much to Amethyst couldn't be bad, and he couldn't stand seeing another living thing in pain.

He walked past Pearl and noticed something very odd. The man's gem, it was flashing. On his upper back their was a lump, showing Steven exactly where the gem was located, and a dark, pulsating light seemed to be coming from it.

"Amethyst, look, his gem!" Steven shouted, catching the frantic Amethyst's attention, directly pointing towards Obsidian's upper back. She quickly flipped him over and ripped a hole clean through the man's cloak, Pearl almost fainting at the scandal of it all. Part of Amethyst wished she didn't open his cloak, it would have saved her the image of what happens when a gem is demolished. She almost passed out, both caused by utter rage and sickness.

Naruto's gem was broken, battered, and bruised. It was hanging on by a thread, literally. It was at the point that one more hit or tap even would shatter it, killing Obsidian without a second thought.

Quickly, Amethyst grabbed Steven by the wrist and pulled him close, allowing the boy to look over the man's busted gem. "Steven, you have healing spit, right? You healed Lapis's gem, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Steven said nervously, looking from the anxious Amethyst and the writhing Obsidian, wondering which one is putting him on edge the most.

"Well, just spit on his gem. He must be in pain! Just a good lick will get him back to his good ol' self, right? " Amethyst logic was tight, spit on the wound and it would quickly heal like it did for Lapis, simple as that. If only things were ever that easy.

As Steven began to collect his saliva he was pulled back, hidden behind Pearl's legs as she glared down at the writhing gem. "Steven, stay out of this. Don't you even think about-"

"Pearl, stopping it?! Do you want him to die?" Amethyst yelled. A few stray tears began to break the surface.

"I don't know what HE will do. He's a mystery, we don't know what will happen the second he get's his gem healed." Pearl sighed, raising her voice to be heard over the man's pained screams. "He might be lying, hoping we'll feel sympathy for him. And then when he's healed, he'll turn on us. How can you sit there and think I would just trust him implicitly?"

"He never knew we had someone who could heal gems. There's no reason he would RISK coming out in the open, wounded and hurt, if he was as bad as you say he is!" Amethyst stated, stomping harshly in her friends direction. But soon, her expression changed from one of rage and hatred to sadness and fear. She truly feared for her friend's safety, she's never seen such a demolished gem, even her's was just a simple crack, nothing as devastating as Naruto's. It was unbelievable and she couldn't just sit by and allow him to parish. "Please, Pearl. I can't lose him again. Let Steven heal him, and he'll show you that he's on our side."

"Pearl, we can't just leave him here like this or destroy him!" Steven said, the boy's big heart was Pearl's very undoing. Neither Pearl, Garnet, or Amethyst could resist the boy's puppy dog eyes and oddly insightful gibberish. Steven ran past Pearl's defenses and stood before her, his arms stretched out wide to protect this...stranger. "He's hurt, he have to help him!"

"Steven, we don't even know who he is or what he is-" Pearl tried to explain this to the boy but he wouldn't hear it.

"Amethyst does, she knows him!" Steven said passionately, looking to Amethyst who seemed distraught, her eyes glued to the still, unstable form of the gem before her. "He's her friend. We can't just let him die!"

"*sigh* I know I'm going to regret this...Let's get him to the Warp Pad." And just like that, Pearl deactivated her gem weapon with a sigh. She couldn't bring herself to end him, at least right now. Part of her feels like this is a bad idea, he's shown them nothing to prove that he wasn't a threat, but on the flip side, he's also done nothing to prove he was a threat…...yet. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt off about him, there was something he wasn't telling them.

"Why?" Steven questioned. Peering past Pearl's leg to watch Amethyst quickly transform into her burley wrestler type and gently pick the now unconscious gem up, whispering words of encouragements to his unconscious body. It was strangely touching how careful she carried the gem. This was the first time in a long time either Pearl or Steven has seen her act so...focused.

The two quickly picked up their pace, a few feet behind Amethyst gentle run towards the pad. "You will heal him back at the base. Garnet's there, so if he tries anything we'll have more firepower. Besides, she's the most level headed of us all, maybe she can make heads or tails of this. Because right now, I don't know what to think."

 **Thank you all for taking time out of your busy day to read my passion project. Please, Review and tell me what you think of it so far and PM me if you have any questions for me about this story. Now, remember this will not be a LENGTHY story, I will update it whenever I can but it won't be like my other stories that are about 20 to 18 pages long. Thank you again!**


	2. A Gem Interrogation

**Chapter 1: A Gem Interrogation**

 **I own Nothing**

A day spent on the beach is a day well spent. The cool breeze, the even cooler waters, and the feeling of the shifting sand slide in between your toes was a wonderful experience. So many people come from miles out of town to just laze around on a warm Saturday afternoon, basking in the sun and sand. It always confused Connie.

She loved her town, don't get her wrong, and she loved the beach too. But to waste a whole day here, what's the purpose? But, I suppose that's what happens when you live next to a beach, you forget how great it is. As she gazed over the beach, watching the tourist stake their claims on what they believed to be prized tanning spots, she smiled at the sight. Reaching the top of the wooden stairs, she knocked rather quietly against the screen door that belonged to one Steven Universe and his family, the Crystal Gems.

This was one of the main reasons she came to the beach anymore. Steven was just so…..interesting, nothing about him was average or normal. Even his parents -if she should call them that- were incredible. Intergalactic Gems, protectors of Earth and all its inhabitants, you couldn't top parents like that if you tried!

So, here she was, waiting patiently for someone to answer the door, hoping, just maybe, there was an adventure waiting beyond it. A chime was heard beyond the door, almost as if the warp pad was just used. She knocked again, hoping this time she would get a response.

A few patient seconds later and Connie was greeted with the square mother herself, Garnet. She was a fierce towering gem with a stone cold gaze and a chill disposition. Out of all the gems she has met, Garnet seemed to be the most mysterious. Which is saying a lot, seeing as most of the gems were foreign to the black haired girl. They all do such wondrous things and yet they act almost like humans, at least that's what Steven's told her.

"Oh, Garnet, hey." Connie greeted the tall woman, a little nervous to be actually speaking to her. Truth be told, this is the first time she ever talked to Garnet, usually Steven spoke enough for the both of them when they were around the Crystal Gems. So, she wasn't overly confident in speaking with this giant woman. "I-Is Steven home?"

Garnet looked down, her slick shades stared directly into the eyes of Connie. "No," She said neutrally, as cool as she was, she never seemed to show much of anything. Whether it be emotions or expressions, I guess that's why many find her so mysterious. You can never read her.

"O-Oh, well…..um, do you know when he'll be back?" Connie questioned.

"No." Her stare was unfazed. It was actually very eerie how still she could be, almost as if she was just solid garnet.

"Okay," Connie sighed, gripping her wrist tightly, her nerves were getting the better of her once again. Maybe it was for the best, he must be very busy, he's a crystal gem after all, he doesn't need to be bothered by some earth-bound girl who just want's a little fun. "Well, I guess I'll come back later. Maybe he'll be back before dinner."

"Connie," The stone giant spoke, halting Connie's descent down the wooden staircase. Connie looked to Garnet, confused and perplexed. This was the first time she could recall Garnet ever saying her name. It sounded…...sweet, in a Garnet sort of way. "Why don't you wait for Steven inside. I know he will be happy to see you when he get's back." Garnet ushered the girl in with a…...smile on her face!

"Really! A-Are you sure, I mean, I wouldn't want to impose." Connie stammered, running her pale dress through her fingers, sampling the fabric as she peered nervously towards Garnet. "Y-You guys are always so busy. I would hate to be in the way."

"As long as you stay in Steven's room, you won't be in the way." Garnet protested, placing a calming hand to the girl's shoulder.

"How do you know?" Connie questioned once more.

"I just do, now come in." Connie didn't need to be asked twice. She quickly walked past the threshold and scampered up the stairs to Steven's room, and took a spot on the corner of his bed which seemed to be covered in old comics and toys. " _Oh, Steven,"_ She thought with a smile. She always loved his childlike ways, that's what made him...well, him. He's a loveable kid who has so much on his shoulders, whether it is the dangers that await him in the future or the things that have happened in the past. She had to say, she wouldn't want to be in his position.

I mean, yes the adventures were exciting and she's been a part of a few of them but if she had to do this every day, to the moment she wakes to the moment she sleeps, she would lose her mind. She had much respect for her plump friend, much respect indeed.

A beam shot from the Warp Pad once again, this time it held more than just one gem. Four poured from the pad, shuffling quickly with the couch like a herd of charging buffalo. Amethyst was the head of this herd, a cloaked figure draped in her arms as her face showed much fear. While Steven and Pearl came up the back, both seemed worried but to different degrees.

Steven's always been a nurturing soul, he got that from his mother, so of course he would show concern. But Pearl's concern seemed more for the people around her than the man Amethyst held.

Connie could only see so much from where she sat. She peeked over the corner when Amethyst put him down, trying to see who or what could be hidden from her sight. Amethyst flipped him gently to his front, revealing his ripped open cloak and the mangled mess his gem was. It was awful to see, it really was. Connie, a girl who knew little about gems still knew enough to know this was not good.

A mangled gem to a gem is like a mangled heart to a human, unsettling.

"What's going on here?" Garnet wondered yet her cool appearance seemed to waver a tad when she noticed the commotion and the new gem that was resting on the couch. Surprisingly, Garnet didn't see something like this coming. It was such a small possibility that this could happen, such a miniscule degree that she didn't even register it.

"Amethyst, Steven, and I found a….. _male_ gem still active at Kindergarten." Pearl spoke up, turning to her leader to give her the short and sweet version of what took place at that horrid place. "His gem is badly damaged and I thought it would be smart if we brought him here."

"Okay Steven, time to work your magic." Amethyst said, practically plucking Steven from his spot and dangling him over the gem, "just hock a loogie on his gem and he'll be as good as new."

"Wait, Amethyst put Steven down this instant and come over here!" Pearl ordered as she wrestles Steven from her grip like he was nothing but a toy in the hands of an unruly child. She wasn't going to allow Steven to even touch this man without Garnet's say so, " _maybe she'll knock some sense into Amethyst"_ Pearl thought.

"What?! B-But you said-" Ametyst began, confused and impatient. She had no time for waiting or talking things over, something was hurting her friend, something that could be easily fixed if the others would just listen to her. Talking this over won't help, action will.

"I know what I said, but we need to get Garnet's opinion before we do anything drastic." Pearl instructed, walking towards their towering leader with Steven in her arms like a mother would hold a child. But, she stopped once she feels a tug on Steven's foot.

"But he needs our help." Amethyst mumbled through gritted teeth, growing very tired of Pearl and her prolonging of her friend's suffering.

"I know, and I'm sorry but we mustn't act too hasty." It ended at that, Pearl walked to the side of their leader and Amethyst followed, clearly unhappy about this waste of time. "Now, Garnet, what do you think we should do?"

"...Do you know anything about him?" Garnet questioned, her gaze hard as it fell upon the ill gem, unconscious twitches riddled his body.

"He said he was born alongside Amethyst at Kindergarten and was picked up by Peridot at a young age. He was then taken to our old homeworld." Pearl explained, Garnet's gaze wavered a bit once she heard about their old homeworld.

"His _name_ is Obsidian," Amethyst interrupted, irritated once more at Pearl for not even mentioning his name. Many people would start with that and then list the rest.

"I thought he said he wanted to be called Naruto when he was around friends?" Steven chimed in.

"Well, does it look like he's around friends? I don't think friends would let another friend writhe in pain like that!" She was getting anxious the louder the screams got from her friend. They started low but grow in decibels and in frequency. She couldn't stand just sitting around, pretending everything's alright.

"Amethyst! This isn't something we can just do without discussing it first! For all we know, he could be a Gem spy!" Pearl said, almost as if she was blocking out the screams of a fellow gem.

"Or maybe he's just a broken, battered gem who just so happens to be my long lost friend! And you're prolonging his suffering!" Amethyst retorted.

"Enough you two!" Garnet stated firmly, silencing them for now. "Now, Pearl, what do you suggest we do?"

"...Honestly, we can't trust him. Don't you think it's odd that we just so happen to find him walking around Kindergarten around the same time we found that Peridot gem snooping around the old Warp Pads. It can't be coincidental." Pearl said, her eyes closed in thought.

"True," Garnet nodded, taking Pearl's thoughts into consideration. She then turns her attention to Amethyst, "And you, Amethyst? What do you think?"

"We can totally trust him!" She said without a second thought. "The moment we met in Kindergarten today, I could feel he was still the old friend I've been dreaming of seeing again. I'd bet my life that if we heal him, he'll help us. And think about how helpful he could be. He's been on the Gem Homeworld, he's been around the next generation of gems, he even dropped Peridot's name. He can be a great help to us."

"Or he could feed us with lies and watch it blow up in our faces." Retorted Pearl, still as skeptical as the moment she met him.

"Of course you of all people would look a gift horse in the mouth!" Amethyst barked, glaring deeply at her friend with the same veracity you would save for an enemy. But, to Amethyst, at this point anyone who tried to take Obsidian away from her again was the enemy. "I swear, I think you only disagree with me just to spite me! You just want to watch me and my friend suffer, don't you!? Because we're nothing but mistakes to you perfect gems!"

"Amethyst, Pearl! We don't have time for this. Pull it together and act like crystal gems, not children." Garnet ordered, trying to be the voice of reason in these confusing times. So much has happened in the past few weeks, none of it seemed to be good, and now her comrades are at each others throats. Truth be told, she was worried about their chances in the future. "Steven, what do you think? This is just as much your decision as it is ours."

Steven stayed silent for a while, twiddling his thumbs as he eyed up the twitching gem on the couch, waiting to be tended to. "Well….ummm, I-I kinda like him. For the most part he has been nice, caring, and he really seems to like Amethyst." Garnet nodded at this assessment, "I believe we can trust him, at least enough to heal him. Besides, what Amethyst said was right, he could be a big help to us."

"B-But Steven, what about-" Pearl tried to say, but was silenced by Garnet.

"Pearl, let Steven heal this gem. He's already decided." She said, locked in her decision. Steven has grown of the past few months, he wasn't the simple minded boy he once was...well, not as much, anyway. He wished to make his own decisions and it was up to the Gems to make sure to stand behind him all the way.

"Garnet? Are you seriously going to let Steven get near him? He could be dangerous." Pearl whispered while Steven inches closer to the unknown gem. She gripped tightly to Garnet's arm, fearful of what might come if her fears come true.

"And if he is, we'll be right here to stop him. But, if we're wrong, and we let him get any worse, we might lose our only chance at defeating these new gems." Garnet answered, watching on as Steven reached the Gem's side. The room grew silent, each party held their collective breaths as Steven waters up his mouth. Connie peered over the side, keeping herself mostly hidden from Steven, she didn't want her presence to interrupt what was about to happen. Steven waited over the gem's unconscious form, propelling a string of spit down to the man's gem. Splashing rather loosely around it, the spit along with the gem began to glow.A gasp was released from this beaten man, a gasp of life, one that Amethyst was more than happy to here. His gem slowly started to heal, each second gave way to a new piece of his broken gem appearing until soon enough, he was back to his usual self. He rose to a seated position, color now fully back in his face and his hair turning back to it's natural bright yellow.

The room was silent, the gems held there baited breath as Steven stared nervously at the rising gem. Naruto looked to his hands, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar, was this real? "Y-You saved me." He whispered, looking from his hands to the young lad that stood before him. Without a second thought, the gem launched himself at the boy, lacing his arms around him and bringing him into his chest for a loving hug. "Thank you, I can't thank you enough, Steven."

"Obsidian!" Amethyst yelled joyously, rushing the two hugging and jumped right in, wrapping her small arms around both parties. "Thank god, you're back to normal! Thank you Steven, thank you so much!"

Steven chuckled at the two in contact with him squished in the middle. "N-No problem. A-All's in a day's work as a Crystal Gem, I guess." Steven blushed lightly, a stranger's hug was not something he was accustomed too.

"No, Steven. It's more than that." Amethyst smiled, shimmering tears evident in the corners of her eyes. "I….I've dreamed of this day for a long time, and when I saw his gem I thought that dream was over. But you saved him. I can't thank you enough, Steven."

"Nor can I," Naruto spoke up, ruffling the boy's scruffy hair like a father would a child. "I am forever in you and your friend's debt. I would have died out their in a matter of months without your help. You're my hero, Steven." Steven blushed even more, he had no idea how to respond to something like that. He's done many amazing thing in his life but most of the time it was the Gems that did the heavy lifting or finished the job. He'd never thought of himself as a hero just a boy doing his job, until now, I suppose.

"Naruto, I have so much to show you!" Amethyst exclaimed, pulling him to his feet as she starts to usher him towards her room. "I've collected so much stuff like we used to do in the old days and I want you to see every last one of them. I even got a few swords and battle axes from some battleground."

"Amethyst, aren't you forgetting something?" Pearl questioned, stopping both gems in their tracks. Amethyst bristled at her friend's words while Obsidian just looked peaceful, smiling all the while.

"D-Do we really have to do this now?" Amethyst questioned, sighing deeply at the thought. "He's had a rough day, can't this wait until tomorrow?"

"No," Garnet said simply and without delay. She folded her arms, determined for this to end and for her to know everything about this other gem. Weather it come willingly or not is up for him to decide. "Now, sit. We have much to talk about."

"Of course," Obsidian nodded, more than willing to help these people seeing as they helped him. Sure they were a bit skeptical but he knew it was warranted, this wasn't something many would take lightly. So, he took a seat back on the couch; Amethyst securing her's right next to him, as he waited for the questions to flow. "I owe you this much for what you've all done for me."

Garnet nodded then looked to Steven. "Steven, would you and Connie leave us. Go play outside."

"Connie?" Steven questioned. "Well, sure, but at this time a day I don't think her parents would-"

"Steven, up here." Connie spoke up, poking her head up from behind the railings, glancing slightly at the new face of the group. He looked sweet, a kind soul like the others. His hair was as yellow as the sun, his eyes were a piercing blue, and his skin, once pale and gray, was now a light peach color. He almost looked…..human.

"When did you get here?" He wondered, his voice a bit louder than most would hope, as usual.

"We can talk about it outside. I think the gems what have a moment alone with…..ummm, Naruto." Connie said, walking quickly down the stairs before she pulls Steven behind her towards the exit, stealing one last look at this new gem who smiled gently towards her.

"What are your intentions?" Garnet wasted no time in her questioning. Once she heard the screen door slam shut she was prepared to fire these off one by one until she knew what she needed to. Pearl looked on, perplexed at this male gem while Amethyst's eyes fell on him as well, but more of a deeper meaning behind it. She was just happy to see him back to his usual color.

"Intentions? Well, I really don't have any." He said, a nervous chuckle left his lips, a bit nervous at how they all kept staring at him like he'd grown a tail or something. "Since today, I was sure that I would waste away in Kindergarten, never to be seen or heard from again."

"What do you intend to do next?" Garnet asked again, taking no time to stop her line of questioning.

"...I don't know, haven't thought that far yet." He answered honestly, scratching his chin with his thumbnail. In truth, he hadn't thought of his future for years. He stayed in that god forsaken crack in the earth for years now, barely moving lest he suffer the pain of his mangled gem. He begrudgingly accepted his so called future to be nothing but this, a hollowed hole in the side of the mountain to be nothing more than his home and his grave.

"You can stay with us!" Amethyst shouted, gripping the man's hand tightly in joy. "We don't have a room set up yet, but you could just bunk with me."

"I would love too, but I don't think that would sit well with your friend over there." Naruto said earnestly, pointing a digit Pearl's way. The moment Amethyst said what she did Pearl scrunched her nose up and glared slightly at her wayward friend. It didn't last more than a second but that's all he needed to see it.

Before the two could go at each other again, Garnet stepped in to ask another question. "We have been finding several small bots roaming around discontinued warp pads, it seems as if they are trying to fix them. Do you know anything about them?"

"Are they round, walk on four cylinder legs, and are white in color?" Naruto asked, counting his questions off on his fingers.

"Yes," Garnet said, recalling the many she's found and crushed in the past week. "So you do know about them."

"Yes, I know what they are. But I have no idea how they work. That was always Peridot's doing, her and her little toys." Naruto explained, a hint of venom etched into his voice when he spoke the diamond girl's name.

"See, he even knows her by name. Doesn't this sound a little bit suspicious to you?" Pearl whispered to Garnet. She then turns to Obsidian, a thought rattling around inside her brain that needed to come out. "What is your relationship with this "Peridot"? Are you friends, partners, is she your leader?"

"Relationship? I think that's too high of a word for the gem who destroyed mine without a second thought!." Naruto said quite harshly, the only time any of them have actually heard a genuine emotion from him besides kindness. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice like that. I've…..I've just had a tough time dealing with what happened. When I was captured, she was the one to carry out my torture. A very painful experience which she took much joy out of."

"Why would she do something like that to you?" Amethyst asked, growing a new hatred for this gem who thought it was her right to hurt her friend. She'll make sure if she runs into her again she'll know why you shouldn't mess with Amethyst.

"I couldn't say, she's always been an odd character." He said simply, "never could get a read on her."

"You said you were captured, what for? Weren't you on their side?" Garnet asked, one of the few things that stuck out in his explanation.

"I was, until I was caught helping the wrong people." Naruto stated, "I was a simple grunt, nothing more. A small gear in a big, nasty machine. I played my part until I decided I couldn't be apart of something this…..barbaric."

"What happened?" Amethyst asked.

"We conquered planets, use them for resources, and left. I was just a soldier, that's all I was told to do. Questioning our superior officers was usually a damaging offense, if you get my meaning. I was unaware that a crew came behind us and captured many of the people we just defeated and used them as slaves to keep our planet running. Spoils of war - that's what they called it." Naruto stated coldly, remembering the night he found them there. Broken, cold, and alone. "Slaves, massive amounts of them. Shoved under the crust of the world, withering away as they made the lives of those above them better."

"How did you find out?" Garnet wondered.

"It was my platoon's first week back from scouting out other planets with suitable resources. We were asked, after our mandatory week of rest, to stay planetside and help there. So, while some stayed above ground to keep the peace between the common folk and the rebellion, we were taken down into the core of our world and given the job of watching over the slaves and keeping them in line." Naruto said, his eyes glazed over as he replayed the horrid memories that haunt his very nights.

"Then, one day, when I thought things couldn't get worse than they already were. I was ordered by my superior officer to kill a few of the older ones, they weren't performing well enough and there were a few younger ones willing to take their place…...So, we took them to the center, ex-executed them, and tossed their bodies into the cores inferno. That's when I knew I couldn't be a part of such a disturbing world. And that is only one of the many atrocities these monsters committed. Gem destruction, torture, planetary annihilation. The list goes on and on."

"Obsidian, I'm so sorry!" Amethyst said, almost tearful after hearing such a monstrous tale. She hugged the gem's arm to her chest, hoping a simple hug would help him forget, at least for now. How could someone so calm go through such a thing? She couldn't wait to get her hands on those homeworld gem bastards and give them everything they deserve.. "I couldn't imagine what that was like. I wish I could have been there for you."

"Thank you, Amethyst. You always know what to say." He smiled, unaware of the other two gems reactions to this…..oddly sweet scene. Pearl's eye seemed to twitch at how uncharacteristically sweet and tender Amethyst was. " _I-Impossible,"_ she seemed to think. " _T-This is Amethyst we're talking about here! She doesn't say she's sorry or wish she could be there for someone! She could care less if it doesn't have anything to do with food, sleeping, or herself! Who the hell is this guy and how could he mean so much to Amethyst?!"_ Something inside Pearl just didn't sit well each time she took a look at this male gem. The way Amethyst acted around him, how Garnet seems to not even register him as a threat -at least that's how it looked to her in this state of paranoia- has her whole group gone mad?

Garnet on the other hand seemed to smile, at least a tad before she brought herself back to her usual stoic self. This was sweet, a reunion between good friends. Amethyst was showing the same love and affection she would if she was separated from Ruby or vise versa. Amethyst will hold on to this gem and never let him go.

" _It's sweet, it really is."_ Sapphire spoke up, Garnet smiled at that. " _Ruby? What do you think?"_

" _I say we should trust him. For now at least."_ Ruby said, her eyes closed in thought. " _Steven and Amethyst has given their seal of approval. The only one who seems to be on the fence is Pearl. Besides, he seems like a nice guy…...and kinda cute."_

" _I'm sorry, Ruby. I couldn't hear that last part."_ Sapphire said sweetly, unaware of Ruby's whisperings about a certain cute blonde.

" _N-Nothing! I just said he - he seems like a nice guy. Yeah, that's all."_ Ruby stammered, unaware of how she made her fusion body react. Garnet couldn't help but blush madly at what Ruby had said, something that thankfully went unnoticed by her fellow gems. Something like that, a simple remark that shouldn't even be in Ruby's head let alone said out loud, greatly affected Garnet. But, thankfully, she composed herself before the other gems could notice her little slip up.

"Obsidian," Garnet spoke, taking his attention away from his childhood companion. "I have all I need to make my decision. I'm willing to allow you to take refuge here, but I cannot in, good conscious, allow you to roam freely. So, you won't be permitted to do what you wish. But, Amethyst seems to really trust you, so does Steven, so I will compromise. You cannot leave this house without a gem with you. Everywhere you go outside the walls of this home will be monitored by either me or Pearl. Am I understood?"

"Yes, I do." Obsidian nodded, grateful for her generosity but also a bit nervous at the same time. Having someone breath down your neck was not something Obsidian believed to be comforting but it's better than being locked behind bars or whatever they would use to contain him. So, he sucked it up and knew he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "and thank you for this opportunity."

"I don't fully trust you, nor does Pearl. The only one who seems to is Amethyst." Garnet said, clarifying anything that he might have misconstrued. "Trust is something you earn."

"And I'm grateful for the opportunity," He said with a smile, causing another spasm to run through Ruby. "Where I once lived, trust meant nothing. Every single person perceived as a threat was eliminated on sight unless they were useful. You three have at least given me a chance, a chance to prove myself to you. I won't mishandle this opportunity, Garnet and Pearl."

A general calmness returned to the group and it couldn't have come any sooner. So much has happened today and so many things seemed to be changing, some for the better others for the worse, and it was good to feel a little ease. "Steven, Connie. Would you two like to join us inside. It's much easier to hear us in here than through the window." Garnet hummed, a collective sound of rummaging and fumbling soon followed. A few seconds later, the two walked in; stretching their 'aching' muscles from all the fun they had on the beach.

"Oh man, that sure was fun." Steven said, if only Steven knew the subtleties of lying, he might have gotten away with it. Actually, probably not, seeing as Garnet saw Connie's frames pere over the window seal. "Yep, nothing like playing…..umm, beach ball! Yeah, beach ball on the beach."

"So, how much did you hear, Connie?" Garnet questioned, not even considering Steven's rather weak attempt to fool her. Maybe if he didn't look so guilty she might have considered it, but, surprisingly, Steven's good heart also makes him very bad at lying, it's just not in his nature. Well, most of the time, anyway. "Speak up, you're not in trouble."

"N-Nothing really. The glass is pretty thick," Connie sighed, blushing a tad out of nervous habit. "Well, I did hear one thing. You're from the Gem homeworld, correct?" She stuck her digit in the direction of the new face in the room, well, newer.

"Yes I am, nice to meet you Connie-chan." He greeted, walking to her and presented his hand, ready to introduce himself formally to this new face. "My name is Obsidian, but I mostly prefer to go by Naruto."

"L-Likewise," She stammered, blushing once more. "A-And what does '-chan' mean?"

"O-Oh, did I say that?" He shyly asked, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I meant to say Connie. My mouth says things before my brain processes it sometimes. It's a tick, really. Nothing more. I have so many of them that I can't really keep track of them, yeah know?"

Connie smiled slightly at his flustered appearance, it seems she's not the only one who seems to put her foot in her mouth in awkward situations, and it's even more shocking to see a nervous tick coming from a Gem of all people. She thought they were next to perfect, but she'll soon come to find that her statement couldn't be further from the truth.

The day quickly turned to night, Steven walked Connie home to her parents who seemed worried sick that she missed dinner. Amethyst quickly dragged Obsidian away into the deepest pits of her room to show him the tallest, most dangerous pile of stuff she had. Leaving Garnet and Pearl to discuss what has transpired today.

"I don't trust him," Pearl said simply, a look of dread and trepidation in her eyes. "Something's off, I can feel it."

"I know," Garnet nodded, "you've made me very well aware of your opinion."

"I know you two think I'm being paranoid like I always am but I have a gut feeling about this. He's no good." Pearl retorted, "and I don't know about you, but I will be keeping a very, very close eye on him."

"And I will do the same, you are not alone in your suspensions. I will keep my own eye on him, a _very_ close one." Garnet said, two very odd meanings stapled to that statement. Before Pearl could even utter another word, Garnet jumped from her seat and headed to her room. "Y-You're right. Yeah, keep an eye on him. Well, g-goodnight."

Pearl just stared, perplexed, watching her friend fumble to her room without another word. " _D-Did Garnet just…...stutter?"_


	3. Author's Note (sorry folks)

**Author's Note**

Hi there, and before I continue, I'm sorry this is just an Author's Note here instead of an update. I know, it's annoying to think a story you like has updated only to find it's the ramblings of its author. But there were a few things I needed to say before I continued on with my story. First, THANK YOU ALL, I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I never thought when I put this on my page that it would explode as it did, and it's all thanks to you all. I couldn't ask for a better fan base or more positive reviews. Anyway, I have two more things I would like to bring to your all's attention.

#1: Many have asked me why my story is going to be shorter. I think I might not have explained this well enough. I didn't mean that it's only going to be 10 chapters long or something to that effect. I meant that the length of the updates won't be as expansive as my other ones. If you are a reader of my other stories you know that I try to make sure the chapter to chapter length is pretty expansive because I might not be able to update for a while. With this one, I'm going to keep it shorter but not too short. So trust me, it might reach 20 to 30 chapters, maybe even longer than that. It's just the chapter to chapter length won't be as long as my other stories. I'm sorry about that, though.

#2: I had a reviewer that goes by the name DragonPony022 who, along leaving a very nice and wonderful review, asked if Sadie and Naruto would hit it off. Well, that got me thinking. Whether this reviewer meant that they wanted to see her in the harem or not, I wanted to know your opinion on this. I will only be adding 1 more to this harem so, please, if you would like Sadie in this harem, PM me or get in touch with me however you can. Even if it's as simple as a Yes/No to Sadie. And if you want another person other than Sadie to be in the last slot, then give me the name and I'll consider it as well. Or, if you believe the harem of Amethyst, Garnet, and Lapis is just fine and doesn't need another, tell me that as well. I can deal with either decision, I am just very curious as to what you all think of this. Also, another question I have for you guys and gals is do you want lemons in this story? Same as the Sadie question, just send me a PM or a review simply stating if you want lemons or not. I'm flexible either way.

Thank you all for giving me undivided attention, I'm really excited to see what you all pick. Also, this offer will end in three weeks, (Today: 6/18/15, Ends:7/09/15) so please, send in your answers as quickly as you can, I want to hear everyone's opinion. That's when I'll be updating this story as well, at least, that's the plan. THANK YOU ALL ONCE AGAIN!


	4. A Night Alone With the Gems

**Chapter 2: A Night Alone With the Gems**

 **I own Nothing**

"A spooky movie what?"

"A spooky movie party, I was invited." Steven clarified, his usual goofy smile plastered across his chubby, lovable face. He stood before Pearl and Garnet, a thick red hoodie covering his usual star shirt as he prepares for this night party filled with frights and terrors promised by a one Renold french fry man. It's been two days since the new recruit of the Crystal Gems arrived and everything seemed to slowly move back to a sense of normalcy, at least in Steven's case, anyway. Pearl still seemed a bit frazzled by his presence, and even Garnet was a bit off when he walked into the room, but Steven didn't think much of it. Pearl has always been a bit jittery when something new pops up, and he could never really understand Garnet sometimes.

"Tonight, Renold asked if me and Sadie would like to meet him at this abandoned Lighthouse for a scary movie night. And I wanted to know if I could go? Please! I'll be on my best behavior, I swear!"

Pearl looked tentatively to Garnet, only to see her stone like appearance stand strong, giving her little to work with. "Well, did it have to be so late at night?"

"Of course, that's what makes it scary. At least, that's what Renold said." Steven said, remembering the very words the curly haired blonde said to convince him to come along. He was really convincing, at least from Steven's perspective, other's might have found his offer rather pushy. "so can I go?"

"I don't know. Garnet, what do you think?" Pearl asked the stone-faced fusion, hoping she could shed some light on this.

"Please, Garnet. Please, please, please!" Steven begged, clasping his hands together in one last ditch effort to win Garnet over to his side. "PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEE!"

"...I don't see why not." She said; a gem of few words as usual. Not much was needed to be said after that, Garnet was usually the final word on most if not all subjects. With Garnet's rather simple answer, Steven was quickly out the door, hugging them both before bolting towards the Big Donut to meet Sadie for their freighting feature film. Garnet couldn't help but smile slightly at the gusto Steven showed, it was almost infectious.

"I'm surprised you let him go at this hour, Garnet," Pearl said, tapping the bar lightly with her fingertips, a bit nervous of this late night flick. "You know how he is when it comes to scary things. He probably won't sleep in his own bed for a week or two now."

"I know," Garnet sighed, only for a smile to take its place. "But I couldn't say no to him."

"Of course you couldn't, who could?" Pearl chuckled, but her smile soon soured once she heard the collective laughter of Amethyst and Obsidian, both deep in the heart of Amethyst's room. For the past day now both of them have been locked in her room without a single hint of coming out. Amethyst has even skipped several of the usual meals she would have throughout the day just to spend every waking moment with him. "Are they still rummaging through Amethyst's room? What's so amusing about junk?"

"It's not the junk," Garnet said, adjusting her glasses. "It's the alone time they are sharing. It's been years since they last saw each other, they have a lot to catch up on."

"Shouldn't we be watching him," Pearl asked, the laughter echoing from Amethyst pig sty of a room seemed to grow the longer they spoke about it. "You know, to make sure everything is alright."

"We'll be taking shifts, Pearl," Garnet said, taking her leave of the kitchen, heading to her room for her own personal reasons. During the past two days, her physical form has been feeling rather off, something that's practically never happened before. Maybe it had something to do with this new gem, who knows. "In about an hour, I'll take it from there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something that needs my utmost attention."

 **\- Amethyst's Room -**

"Come on, come on! We're almost to the back, that's where I keep all the cool and moldy stuff." Amethyst all but squealed, dragging a lighthearted Naruto behind her like a submissive husband in the grasp of a strong-willed wife. But, surprisingly, he was smiling all the while he was being led through the dark and cluttered mess that was Amethyst's room. He loved to see her so enthusiastic and he couldn't help but laugh at how messy her room was and how proud she was of it.

"Haha, Amethyst, slow down a bit, please!" Naruto laughed, his grin almost gleaming at the prospect of being there for his short little friend, but still wished to keep his arm in the socket. "We've been at this for 2 days. How many things could you possibly show me?"

"Awe, come on, Obsidian! We haven't even gotten to the best part of our room. Oh! This one is one of my favorites." She declared, screeching to a halt just in front of a massive pile of carefully stacked furniture that practically tickled the top of the cavern her room seemed to be in. "It took me years to find the right pieces. It fell on me like three times too; but hey, no pain no gain, right?"

"Amethyst, this is amazing!" Naruto chuckled, resting his calloused palm to one of the many couches that made up this towering madness. "I can't believe you did this, all of it, by yourself. You really got a talent for staking…...a-and wait, did you say "our" room?"

She chuckled, "Of course since we don't really have a room set up for you. I just assumed we could share a room together. It could be like old times when we shared." She blushed at the thought of how innocent and happy they were so long ago. She used to rest on his chest, snuggled up in a ball of her own hair as she tried to nuzzle deeper into his chest. "And I know right? Pearl thinks I should throw this stuff away, but there's no way anything from this room is going in the dumpster. Not as long as I'm still breathing."

"Yeah, she does seem rather…..different," Naruto said, wondering what the proper word would be for someone of Pearl's…..attitude so far. He didn't hate her, surely he couldn't. He barely knew her to begin with, and to him hate was far too strong a word. Confused would probably be the best word to describe it. She seemed so distant and cold towards him even though he's been nothing but cooperative and cheerful.

"You can say that again," Amethyst chuckled, throwing herself onto a pile of gathered up beach towels she found on the beach, just laying around under an umbrella, which she also took. "But, actually, I think the word you're looking for is bossy, or annoying, or a royal pain in my butt. She just thinks she can boss everyone around and she's always _so_ right about EVERYTHING! I'd rather live in a ditch then see that stupid, "I told you so" look one more time!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, she's not annoying. Well, not that much anyway. She's just cautious." Naruto hummed, trying to play the devil's advocate for just a bit. Of course he's not trying to pretend that her constant glares and such weren't annoying, but he's not one to complain. Calm is his center, it keeps him in check, and understanding helps him keep his cool.

"Awe, come on, Obsidian. Don't be like that. Tell me how you really feel! We're all alone in here. No one to tell you no or to try and silence you, just go nuts!" Amethyst goated, really hoping to see the old, wild Obsidian she used to know. In a time where they only had each other and the rocks that surrounded them, that was the true Obsidian. "I know you want too."

He seemed at odds with himself, wanting to do as his friend wished but also didn't want to ruin his center, so to speak. So, he compromised. "I've only known her for 2 days so I couldn't really say much about her. She seemed caring towards Steven and you two and even though she's a bit bossy she does it with the best intentions, I suppose. The only thing I do wonder about it why she's so standoffish. Have I done something wrong?"

"Oh, no. That's just how she is with new people." Amethyst mumbled as she tumbled from her bundle of towels. "You should have seen her when she first meet Greg, she practically freaked!"

"Greg?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with this name as he took his seat on a lumpy couch that was placed near the towering ones.

"Steven's dad, he's a cool guy, sorta kinda. I used to hang with him when Rose was busy." Amethyst explained, deciding to just take a seat next to her favorite gem, resting her head on his thigh.

"Wait, Steven has a father? He was born?" Naruto asked once more, confused but also astounded by something like this.

"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting you don't know all this stuff. Haha," She laughed, "Steven was born from Rose Quartz and Greg. Rose gave up her physical form to make him…...I miss her, a lot. But I wouldn't trade Steven for the world! He's so cool, I think if you get to hang with him a bit more you'll love just as much as me."

"I bet," Naruto chuckled, "but wow, I can't believe a gem could actually simulate birth! I mean, not traditional birth, mind you, but still! And this "Greg", is he human?"

"Yeah, full human. So, Steven's only a half gem." Amethyst nodded. "And how would you know about birth? Heck, even I'm still kinda confused on how it works."

"I've been all over the galaxy, remember. I've seen some pretty interesting and disturbing stuff." He said, shivering at the thought of some of the more graphic or disgusting scenes he's had to endure on his tour of this and many other galaxies. "Some of it I would love to forget. Unfortunately, I can't, no matter how hard I try."

"Speaking of your trip around the galaxy, when did you start calling yourself Naruto?" Amethyst questioned, his eyebrows flared for only a moment at the mention of his new name. As the silence lingered, he sighed, maybe it was time he told someone about this experience he shared, and it might as well be Amethyst. "I mean, not to pry or anything, I'm just really curious."

"Well, it's actually quite a long story, it would take days to explain every little detail of it. So, I'll give you the short and sweet version." Naruto smiled, as Amethyst crawled into his lap like a child would when they were about to be told a bedtime story. He looked to the distance, thinking back some 5,00 years ago, the day he was stolen from his only friend. "The day I was taken from you, I experienced something I never thought I ever would. Since the warp pad at Kindergarten was still unresponsive, Peridot had to send a drone ship to pick me up, doing so meant I was placed in suspended animation, seeing as it would take at least 6 earth months to arrive at the Gem Homeworld. During this trip, something happened, something unexplainable. I had a dream, a vivid dream so real that…..it became my reality. What took months for the ship was years in this dream. I was this boy named Naruto Uzumaki, I lived in a village known as Konoha, one piece of the Elemental Nation. His life became mine and mine - his, we lived as one for 16 long years, each day we felt more like one until, one day, there was no separation. I was Naruto and he was Obsidian, we both were each other and one at the same time. Until the day he died, that was the day I was pulled from my animated slumber and brought back to the real world. But, honestly, back then, I didn't know what was real."

Amethyst stared at him, awestruck and silent, for the first time she was truly speechless. She wished to know more, much more. She's had dreams, sure, some hazy and other very clear, like the ones where she would live out her days by Obsidian's side while they ride on top of a burrito. But she's never had such a reaction to a dream that it felt like it was the real world. "Wow," was all she could say to wrap up her feelings for his shortened explanation. "Are you serious? So this Naruto guy, he was like you?"

"Yes, well - no, not exactly. I-It's really hard to explain, which is one of the many reasons I don't tell most people of this experience. If anything, I would equate it to fusion." Obsidian began to explain, feeling that a fusion is the only thing that seemed to be the most accurate depiction of what happened to him. "From what I've heard, a proper fusion; created by a bond and of an equal understanding of one another, is the two gems becoming one, no one gem has more say in their actions than another. For the longest time, I didn't feel like I was myself, nor did I feel simply as Naruto. It felt like a …..an experience. Something that has stayed with me years after the fact."

"Amazing, so what happened next? What happened to Naruto? Come on, I can't wait to hear it!" Amethyst chirped, anxious and impatient as always, but it was one of the many endearing qualities Naruto has come to love about her.

Naruto closed his eyes, pulling from the depth of his memories, 5,995 years is a lot to sift through. "We…...We were fighting, a battle unlike any I've ever seen. We took the form of gigantic titans, one a massive golden fox, the other, a gigantic purple samurai. We clashed, again and again. the terrain around them buckled under the pressure, reshaping the land into nothing but rubble. Then, we traded blows with our bare fist, then so on and so on. So many things happened in our final hours as one, I couldn't possibly tell you them all, not yet at least. So, as we and our opponent lied their, both missing a similar limb, I was pulled from my suspended slumber. Met with the sight of the gem homeworld lab, surrounded by similar gems like me from different worlds."

"So, this really happened to you? Your dream was that vivid, that amazing?" She questioned once more, this seemed too astounding to be real. Something as simple as a dream going over a course of 16 years in just a few short months, being able to blur the lines of reality and fiction, it sounded impossible. But, coming from Obsidian, it had to have some weight behind it. He's never lied to her before. He nodded, confirming his tale to be 100% genuine, and all she could do was giggle in excitement, "Oh man, this sounds so cool! I want to hear it all, from beginning to end."

"Really, are you sure? It will take time." Naruto questioned, only to see her nod vigorously, almost as if her head would snap off with the force. "Very well, get comfortable. This is the tale of the great Naruto Uzumaki!" And so it began, Obsidian regaled Amethyst with his stories of wonder and struggle, how many times they slipped past certain death, how no matter how the odds were stacked, he and Naruto found a way past it all. While he continued his stories -Amethyst hanging on every word- the two were unaware of another set of eyes peering at them from across the way.

A square qwop of hair floated within a pool of water as a pair of spectacles skimmed the water like a gator would a lagoon or bayou. This was the perfect spot for Garnet to keep an extra close eye on this so called Obsidian. Taking advantage of a not so well known secret hole carved into the base of this cave, Garnet decided it would be best to watch their reactions from afar, and surely it had nothing to do with Ruby's wondering eyes.

" _I don't feel right doing this, Ruby."_ Sapphire murmured, all too uncomfortable breaching the privacy of one of her most closest friends. " _They're having a touching moment, we really shouldn't be spying on it."_

" _We're….just making sure Amethyst is safe and sound, that's all."_ Ruby justifies, peering through her fusions eyes at the tender moment her friend and Obsidian were sharing. " _Besides, we did say we were going to keep an eye on him and I intend to keep my promise, even if I have to stare at him all night long!"_

" _If I didn't know better, I would think you like staring at him."_ Sapphire jested, giggle at her light-hearted jab. "WHAT!?"

The cave that seemed to surround Amethyst humble abode shock with the reverberant force of Garnet's mighty question. A pink blush rushed to the strong gem's features as she quickly dove deep into the water, taking her back to the room of a thousand gems to compose herself once more. "What was that?" Naruto wondered, breaking his gaze that seemed to be lost in Amethyst joy filled eyes to peer across this massive cavern this room was placed within.

"Sounded like Garnet," Amethyst said, but still seemed a bit unfazed by her stoic friends loud reaction and how close this reaction seemed. Maybe it was her complete infatuation with the story being told to her or the attention she was deriving from her favorite gem, but it seemed she really didn't worry or care one bit about her friends outburst. "Probably something Pearl did or whatever, it doesn't really matter."

"You sure, because I really think we should-" Naruto tried to stand but was stopped rather harshly by the short purple gem who pushed down on his chest with her small hands, halting his rise quickly and without delay.

"N-No! Come on, we're having fun here." She implored, "Don't worry about Garnet, she's a big gem, she can handle herself." She placed a hand to his cheek and drew his gaze back to her, which brought a smile to her features once more.

"Is everything alright, Amethyst?"

"Y-Yeah, of course." She nods, trying to hide her growing blush. "It's just….it's been years, you know. Since we could sit like this, be as close as we are now. I-I just want to spend as much time with you as I can, no distractions and no interruptions. Don't you feel the say way?"

She feels Naruto's arms wrap around her back and bring her into his chest, smothering her into a warm, loving hug. "Of course I do, Amethyst, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"Thank you, Obsidian. That means the world to me." She snuggles into his chest as her blush glows even brighter from the contact. She felt safe, comfortable, almost untouchable as she rested her head on her long lost friend's chest. "H-Hey, Obsidian. There's…..there's something I've been meaning to tell you for...probably longer than I'd like to admit. For the past 2 days, I've had more fun than I have had for the past 5,995 years. Y-You're just so much fun! And you get me, not like the others, they can try to but I always feel like they're just humoring me. But with you, I can tell you care, I can tell you like being around me."

Her nerves started to win over as a nervous giggle breaks through as she fiddles with her fingers like a nervous school girl, "L-Look at me, all flustered and rambling like a human. I-I guess, what I'm really trying to say is….after spending just 2 days with you, I know my true feelings that I had long ago are still there. I-I think that I really-"

"Times up, Amethyst. I've got the second shift." Garnet said sternly, grabbing Obsidian by his cloak and literally drag him from the room. Obsidian, unsure of what to do, just sat there; more confused than anything else.

"W-Wait! Can I just watch over him for a few more hours, I won't take my eyes off him, I swear! Please!" She begged, rushing after the two retreating forms

"No," Simple, but impactful. She continued to drag him from the room, leaving Amethyst alone and slightly bitter.

"Damnit! So close too." she huffed, "*sigh* Easy, Amethyst. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Patients, remember what Rose said….who am I kidding!? I was so damn close!"

 **\- Living Room -**

Garnet sat before Obsidian, eyes trained on him with laser precision as he sat under her gaze, quite uncomfortable to say the least. "Ummm, so, how's being a crystal gem been so far? Pretty good, I bet."

"..." The silence was his answer as her unwavering stare continued.

"Okay, well, um, how has earth evolved since the last time I've been here? Even from what little I've seen of it for the past 5 years, it must have jumped leaps and bounds from the last time I stepped foot here."

"..." And yet again, his attempt at small talk fell flat as the square gem decided to forgo the simple courtesy of answering a simple question. Unknown to the clamoring blonde, Garnet was lost in her own thoughts, or rather, discussion between her two halves. Neither seemed all too focused on the task at hand. Ruby defending her earlier outburst as if Sapphire really cared. It wasn't something that bothered her at all, but what did, however, was her harsh separation of the two gems Obsidian and Amethyst and how their privacy was violated.

"...Oh! I was wondering, I heard you yell a couple of minutes ago. Are you alright? I would hate to see a friend of Amethyst get hurt." That question seemed to catch the fusion's attention. A pink hue dusted the stoic gem's cheekbones as her outburst was brought to the forefront of this conversation, or rather, lack thereof.

"I-I'm fine, thanks for asking." She nodded, turning towards the door so as to hide her growing blush. Stuttering, blushing? These are a few verbs that used to never be used to describe Garnet's state of being. Now, now she was stammering at this gem's fained concern. She needed to adjust herself, compose herself for the sake of both Sapphire and their reputation as the square mother with the cold disposition.

"Good, glad to hear it." he smiled, following her gaze to the star sky outside, perfectly framed by the window. He remembered all those restless nights back at his reluctant home, how he stared at the sky for hours on end, watching it change from the beautiful pastel blues to the tempered darkness of the night sky. "Hey, can I ask a favor of you?"She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak for her at this time. "If it's alright with you, may I go outside?"

"Why?" She questioned simply.

"I guess you could say I would love to stretch my legs." He chuckled lightly, sending another flutter through Garnet's form. " _What is this?"_ Ruby thought, " _I-It must be interference or something, yeah, that's it, interference."_ Her explanation was rather weak, but she needed something to blame this unexplainable anomaly on, even if it didn't make much sense. "I've been walking on eggshells for five years, fearing anything from using my weapon to breaking out in a light jog might exacerbate my cracked gem. And now that I'm free from that burden, I've been itching to get out there and do everything I was denied."

"...Okay," She said calmly; thankful that her calm demeanor seemed to hold, allowing her to keep face in front of this newcomer. "But you won't leave my sight. If you do, I will crush you, understood?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he jested, unaware of the implications. The two quickly made it outside, the calming sound of the soft waves pulling back and forth onto the sandy beach was a welcomed accompaniment as Naruto reaches the bottom of the stairs, slowly walking through the sand as he savors every step. Once he reaches an appropriate spot, he grips the front of his torn garb and in one swift motion, he rips it from his body, revealing himself under the light of the full moon. He wore a fishnet undershirt partially covered by a dark black and orange vest that blew in the night air. His vest held a hole in the back were his gem rested, a strong black color with the shape of a honeycomb. His pants were simple black and his feet were bare, his toes now digging within the sand as a child would to feel sand for the first time.

"I've been on thousands of planets, crossed countless species, but nothing has come close to this world. I feel….I feel a connection here." He hummed, a calming smile etched into his features and it didn't seem like it would leave him anytime soon. "Maybe because I was born here, created from the very earth I stand on…..haha, listen to me! I sound like a decrepit old man. But I guess I am over 6,000 years old, so, technically, I am decrepit. Haha, but anyway, enough talking to myself. Let's see if I can still do this." He reached out his hand as his eyes shut, placing all of his concentration into this single moment. His gem that rested on his back began to glow a light black shine as his weapon construct began to form.

A large, curved black pole fazed into existence as his hand gripped it's bandaged length, a weapon that looked to have been through many battles. He examines the weapon with a critical eye, taking it in both hands now as he twirls this staff with curiosity. After he is pleased with his examination, he raises the staff above his head, and, with a mighty swing, the final piece of this dangerous masterpiece is revealed. A thick, menacing red blade topped this long piece of timber that glowed with an almost unholy red gleam, revealing it's true form. Obsidian's weapon of choice was a Scythe*.

"It truly has been a long time since I've wielded you, Kurama." Naruto sighed in content, giving his named weapon a few practice swings, scaring the sandy ground he stood on with flawless precision. "I feel like it's been ages, old friend."

"You named your construct?" A new voice appeared, coming from the balcony Naruto thought only Garnet stood upon. He looked back to find Pearl standing with her stone faced friend, her arms crossed in a dignified manner as she looked onward to Obsidian, her pointy nose raised up at him. "How absurd. It's a weapon to be used, not some toy to be named."

"I'll have to disagree with you on that one, Pearl-san." Naruto said numbly, all though he would have a few choice words for Pearl if he wasn't trying to show restraint and respect. "Our weapons are created from us, therefore, they are an extension of ourselves. You may see your spear as nothing more than a tool, only useful when you need it, but my Scythe is a part of me. Which is why I give it a name and why I give it a purpose, ya know."

Pearl seemed stunned by his replay, enough to render her speechless, for the moment at least. The more she spends around this newcomer, the more questions seem to rise. "Garnet, I have another favor to ask of you."

"Yes?" Garnet answered, taking her gaze from the ocean.

"I wish to spar with you. That would really help get my blood flowing." He said, his eyes practically sparkling at the mere prospect of taking on another worthy foe like old times, yet, hopefully, it won't end exactly like old times. With the loser six feet deep, "I'd also love to know what you're made of, Garnet."

"No," she said rather plainly, not even giving herself time to pretend to consider his proposal. "I do not fight for joy or sport. My talents are used for matters of life and death."

"Are you sure? Not even a quick one?" He asked, only for her answer to be the same "no" she is known for. "Oh well, I was really looking forward to it. But I understand, maybe Amethyst will-"

"I'll humor your proposal, Obsidian." Obsidian saw Pearl jump from her spot beside Garnet and land before him, her weapon quickly drawn in preparation for what is to come. "I would also like to see what you're made of. And besides, I have some much needed stress that needs to be relieved."

"I gladly accept, Pearl." Naruto smiled, as it seemed to reach ear to ear as he slipped into his preferred battle stance. His hands gripped tightly around the shaft of his weapon, spaced out properly to give him strong swipes and slashes. His stance was low but firm, ready for battle and for Pearl's first move. "But I must warn you, I've never been known for holding back, so bring everything you've got."

"I assure you, I won't be holding anything back at all." Pearl spoke rather coyly for a gem who seemed aggressive towards him not a few minutes ago. Only time will tell what her true intentions are. As the two fearsome combatants prepared themselves for a moonlit spar, the chosen battleground seemed to calm itself for the impending fight. The ocean settled and the breeze of salted air halted as the two locked eyes and Garnet watched from a far, this was a fight she could not miss.

 **\- Unknown Location -**

While Obsidian plays with the earth-bound gems, he is ignorant to the others hunting him. A ship lingers just outside a planet's natural orbit, a single digit of this hand shaped ship was outstretched, intercepting another cruiser from its previous trajectory. This small cruiser held within its cockpit two beings of high rank, one had a mane of untamable hair, white as snow and a gem housed where her nose should be. Her skin was of a tangerine hue with orange markings placed across her body. Her frame was built with muscle, her immense strength and durability second to none on her home planet. She wore a pale-red tank-top with a mahogany, V-neck collar that connected to a form a yellow diamond emblem, mahogany leggings, and red boots tipped with a brown gradient.

She emerged from the ship first, a large cloak like cape draped across her massive shoulders as her eyes are trained forward, moving with purpose and speed.

Behind her came a much smaller companion how kept to her side as she fiddles with her electronic nonsense. This right hand follower had light-green skin with neon-green eyes with a gem resting in the middle of her forehead. One of the many odd things that drew eyes to this one was that her fingers are not directly attached to her body, but instead levitate around where a usual gem's palm would reside. Styled in a tetrahedron like shape, this one's yellowish green hair seemed to defy gravity. A sleeveless, green, V-neck bodysuit matched with large boots and armguards is this one's decided fashion. As her leader before her, her outfit's colors clash in the middle to create a dark-green diamond symbol.

"Another waste of time," The burley superior officer hissed, her boots stomping down the hallway with visible irritation etched into her features. "What is that, the 50th? The 60th planet we've checked? How many planets must we search before we find him?! Where could he be hiding?"

"Hmm, from my calculations, I've determined that there is only one more sector of planets and stars he could have landed in without running out of fuel. Not counting the improbable theories that could have come into play. Such as him flying into a black hole or dying in an asteroid belt." The more tech savvy right hand spoke up, trying to ease its master's rage as to not find another hole in the hull of their ship. "Jasper, one of those planets is Earth."

"Earth? Where have I heard that name before….." The now named Jasper hummed, her large fingers stroked her chin in thought. "The Gem War battlefield! That's where Rose is hiding her band of fools and defective gems!...Obsidian wouldn't take that risk. He knows what that rebel scum would do to a home worlder."

"He's on the run from us, Jasper. He might have thought we wouldn't risk coming after him if he took refuge there." She explained, her attention seemed to be more focused on the floating digital interface she created with her hovering fingers. "But why leave this up to speculation. We have a gem in lock-up that could shed some light on this subject."

"And do you believe we can trust her word?" Jasper questioned, looking to her second in command.

"If it means you can get your hands on Obsidian again, wouldn't you take that risk." she said with a sickening smirk, her fingers twitched at the thought of it.

"You're right, I won't let him slip away again. He's mine!" Jasper smirked, she won't hesitate to demolish every single planet they come across to get _her_ Obsidian back in chains and strapped to her side. "Peridot, I think I would like a word with Lapis Lazuli."

"Of course," and with that, the two arrive at this hall of cells. Many held nothing but air, an empty space for many prisoners this mobile jail could and has carried. One cell, however, held a small, frail gem of earth who came to the Gem Homeworld hoping to find her home, but sadly, found a shell of it's former self. She wore a simple blue dress that matched her hair and her skin held a sky blue hue to it, almost as if she had hyperthermia. Her dark blue eyes held much sadness but soon fear to it's place as she saw the foreboding figure of her capture appear from the corner. "Lapis Lazuli," her warden spoke with a twisted grin and her demented yellow eyes peering into the poor gem's very being.

"J-Jasper, please, let me out. I'm here to help you, I swear!" Lapis begged, hoping her pitiful please would somehow touch this gem's sensibilities. Unfortunately, she was mistaken.

"Oh, sweet Lapis, I hate to see you like this." Jasper cooed, her sincerity as hollow as her heart. "But how can I trust you? You've spent years with those….Crystal Gems! Your loyalty is in question. But….if you continue to help us, we will welcome you back to our ranks with open arms. But you must prove yourself worthy, prove that you are a true Gem Warrior. Are we clear?"

"Y-Yes, Jasper." She said, her head down cast at the realisation of her predicament. She wasn't in control here, Jasper was and what Jasper wanted, she got without question.

"Good, I'm glad we're all in agreement." Jasper smirked, "now, it's time to prove your loyalty, Lapis. Are you ready?"

"Yes Jasper, I am."

"What do you know about Earth?"

 _ ***If you would like an idea of what I based Naruto's Scythe on, it was the Scythe from Bloodborne, the Brutal Blade. I don't know if I will add the detachability to Naruto's though. I might, I'll need to think on it.**_

 **Thank you all so much for your support for this story, I really love working on it and I am so happy you guys seem to like it too. Now, for the moment that has been building for the past 3 weeks, who shall be the next addition to the Harem?**

 **First, the Sadie Poll: No, she won't be added. It was close, it really was. But the no's outweighed the yes's. But I have decided that Sadie will end up with Renaldo instead of Lars. A few reviewers and PM'ers agree with me that Lars is...well, to put it bluntly, is a massive asshole! Especially to Sadie. Even though Renaldo is weird, he still seems to worry and care for others, even though he can get a little overzealous.**

 **Second, the Lemon Poll: A resounding yes. So, I will be adding them but sparingly and if they fit into the narrative at the time. I won't just throw them in. I've always thought it felt odd when stories would just throw them in without planning ahead.**

 **And Thirdly, who will be taking the last spot of the Harem:... Pearl! Yep, Pearl won by a landslide. Here by popular demand! Thank you all for your votes, I really appreciate them. And before you ask, yes, of course, Pearl will warm up to him, but I won't be making it happen overnight. She's still skeptical, and you saw how mean spirited she was towards Greg in one of the newest episodes "We need to Talk". She wasn't too welcoming, I'll tell you that much, so I want to potray that side of her for a little bit before I start to warm her up to him.**

 **Please leave a review and don't forget to PM me if you have any questions. Thank you all, see you soon!**


	5. The Dance of the Spear and Scythe

**Chapter 3**

 **The Dance of the Spear and Scythe: A Storm Approaches**

 **I own Nothing**

 _ ***Quick little sidebar before we start. The Scythe's name from Bloodborne is the Burial Blade, not the Brutal Blade like I had said previously. Must have forgotten to re-read over that.***_

The beach was socked in moonlight, the distinct waft of seawater coated the air as two fighters stood opposite each other, their weapons drawn and their gaze hardened. One held his named Scythe with a waning smirk playing on his lips while his partner held a more hardened line under her pointed nose, her spear pointed directly towards her opponent. Their grips tightened in anticipation for what is to come as they waited for the other to move, preparing their own scenarios in their heads.

But this calmness, this rest before the storm soon ended when Naruto took the offensive. It happened so fast you would be forgiven to have missed it if you blinked. Naruto twirled his form, using the momentum to send a heavy and speedy arking slash down towards Pearl, an ark that took Pearl as well as Garnet by surprise. She ducked, quickly rolling to the side to miss the slash that was to come which carved through the sand like butter, leaving a definitive red glow through the sand. She rolled to her feet, taking this as her opportunity to strike, she dove hard towards Naruto, his back turned to her, she charged him with her spear poised for the attack.

He turned, facing his opponent and with a twist of his Scythe, the strike glanced off his wooden staff and was sent towards the ground, spearing the sand instead of his tanned hide. His scythe now hung over the pale gem's head, resting inches from slicing through the back of her neck. Naruto, his eyes glued to his trapped opponent, said something Pearl never wished to hear. "Give up, I've won."

She took that as an insult, a minute scuffle was all she's worth? Impossible, she has trained with Rose Quartz with Garnet by her side and Amethyst soon after, there was no way she would be beaten by an outworlder. She slipped her blade from the loose sand, swiveled from under his crimson blade, and slashed at his midsection, clipping the front of his bellowing vest and slicing through a few loops of his fishnet vest.

"Don't you dare count me out yet," she hissed dangerously, planting the base of her spear in the sand as a soldier would plant a flag in the ground. She stood firm, glaring down her opponent as he rubs the ripped fabric between his fingers.

"Understood," he said numbly, bring his scythe to bare once more. Soon, the battle commenced once again, their weapons clashing with crimson obsidian and smooth pearl as Garnet looked on, watching with a numb expression. The constant clash and sparks from their weapons drew another onlooker, Amethyst who now stood beside Garnet with widened eyes.

"Yo, what's all the racket for? I'm trying to take a….." Amethyst began, her arms tucked firmly behind her head only to notice the heated battle going on down below on the sandy shore. "Obsidian, Pearl? What's going on here?!"

"Naruto asked for a spar with me, I refused - but Pearl seemed to be willing to fight." Garnet dryly explained, not taking a single one of her eyes of the action before her - she seemed, surprisingly drawn to it. Their smooth, swift strikes coupled nicely with their strong defense, it was almost like a dance - a dance of determination.

"Why didn't you tell me? He just got his gem fixed, he could get hurt." Amethyst worried, prepared to jump in to stop this madness, only to be stopped by Garnet's large hands finding a place on her shoulder, halting her completely.

"Pearl wouldn't go that far." She said wisely, keeping her friend at bay. "Besides, he's been here for two days - he seems healthy enough."

"I wouldn't put it past her to," Amethyst mumbled, shaking Garnet's grip loose. "Why didn't you get me?" She asked, peering over the railing to watch the two square off, a visible frown taking over her puffy lips.

"Because I knew you'd overreact." The square mother said simply.

"Of course I would, Obsidian's my friend an-"

"So is Pearl," Garnet interjected.

"...Sure, whatever. But Obsidian's my friend and you know how Pearl gets when she's certain of something. She won't rest until she can prove it to both of us that she's right. Even if it means stepping on a few toes." Said Amethyst.

"I won't let that happen." Said Garnet firmly, taking her eyes from her short, blue friend and putting them back on the action as her mind began to wonder. Though she hated to admit it, Amethyst might have a point - Pearl's never been the most stable of the three, always trying to prove a point or bring someone to her way of think. This doesn't make her bad, it just makes her rather…..forceful at times, and at many instances her forceful nature as taken her to some dark places. Maybe Amethyst was right to worry, only time will truly tell. The duel continued for quite some time, but soon their attacks grew weak and their arms heavy - this duel was drawing to an end.

"I have to say, you're no pushover, Pearl." Naruto sighed, his Scythe now loosely gripped as he eyed up the pale gemstone, a small smile resting on his cheeks. This, above anything, has been a huge example of what toles laying around in that hole has taken on him - his moves were rusty and his reaction time was laughable, he wouldn't be standing if this was a Homeworld "spar". "You've really given me a lot to improve on."

"Y-Yeah," she whimpered lightly, trying to catch her second wind. "I mean, o-of course. I have fought in the Great Gem War, side by side with the great Rose Quartz herself. I mean, what would you expect?" She gloated, using her spear to anchor herself upright. Her gloating aside, she's quite surprised at what Naruto had to offer in terms of skill - if she was honest with herself, she would be downright impressed and a little worried.

"Haha, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking," he chuckled, twirling the handle of his deadly weapon between his fingers like it was a simple stick, it's crimson blade swooshing through the night's cooling air. "I guess that's enough for tonight, I'm glad you took time out of your schedule to-"

"Are you done already? I could still keep going," she said, a smile creeping on her face. Maybe it was her previous statement or how tired he seemed but she wanted to keep going and beat him, making sure she got a hard, definitive win with him on his back and her standing tall. "But if you're too tired...nevermind, forget I even said anything."

Naruto's eyebrow shot skyward at her no so subtle claim, "Oh? I was merely suggesting we stop for your sake, I would hate to push you _too_ far."

"Try me," she declared, pointing her spear defiantly in his direction.

"Alright, one more go. Winner take all?" Naruto questioned.

"If you think you can handle it," Pearl replied.

"Do they really have to do another one? It's getting pretty dark out here, I can't even see what's happening." Amethyst moaned, leaning sluggishly against the balcony railing. She looked to her friend for a replay but was greeted with silence and the same stone like stare out towards the battlegrounds she did minutes before. "Great, I can barely see and you're zoned out. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

Two warrior's prepare their blades once more, each ready to strike. As they both let out a breath, they charge each other's positions - their weapons poised for the attack, Pearl's spear directly before her, the point gleaming in the moonlight while Naruto's Scythe scraped across the sand, leaving a distinct trail. As they close in on one another Naruto's crimson blade began to….glow?

Yes, his shimmering blade started glow a deep crimson red and heat began to radiate from it, leaving the sand it touched to be burnt. Pearl went for her strike, thrusting her spear forward to "skewer" Naruto dead center into his chest, but her strike was literally cut short. With a swift swing of his mighty scythe he cut through the hardened Pearl spear with ease, sending the point flying in the other direction. Before she could even register this surprisingly turn of events her legs were swept out from under her, landing her flat on her back with a steaming, glowing tip of an obsidian blade dangerously close to her pointy nose. "I don't know about you, but I think I win, Dattebayo!"

Pearl gritted her teeth, prepared to fight back as she reached for her gem only to hear a voice she's quite familiar too. "Pearl, Obsidian! What are you two doing?" Steven questioned, rushing on the scene with a flashlight in hand - illuminating the battlefield for both him and the other's to see.

"Steven?" Pearl said, squinting through the bright light the young boy shown in her direction. "O-Oh, it's not what it looks like, we were just-" She tried to explain before she was cut off by Steven who seemed quite miffed at his pale friend.

"Yesterday you promised me you would give him a chance!" He said, puffing out his cheeks. "Why are you two fighting again, I thought we moved past this!"

" _Why is he more mad at me? I'm not the one holding a weapon at the other's nose!"_ Pearl thought, before said steaming blade dispersed, leaving her sprawled on the sand while Naruto walked to Steven's side.

He knelt down slightly to be eye level to the little gem, and began to speak. "Easy, little one. It's not what you think. I asked her for a little spar, that's all. It's been a long time since I've flexed my muscles and I needed it. Don't worry, it was completely harmless, right Pearl?" He said, peering over his shoulder.

Pearl was soon on her feet, dusting her slightly tattered clothes off. "Y-Yeah, harmless," She murmured, nursing her damaged pride. Was this what the homeworlds were like? He fought with the brutality of a beast but danced around her with the grace of a swan, not to mention his strikes. Precise would be the best word to describe them, precise and threatening. As she stared at him, his attention focused on cooling Steven down - she couldn't help but feel an ounce of fear pooling within her; this isn't someone she wished to mess with anymore. And this was what he was like when he was "rusty"? This was not a gem that she want's as an enemy.

"Are you sure?" Steven questioned, his eyebrow cocked as he stared at Naruto with skepticism.

"I swear," He said, placing his hand on his heart with his other raised. "But enough about Pearl and I, I'm more curious about why a certain dark haired boy is out past his bedtime? Care to explain?"

"I-I didn't mean to stay out this late, I swear!" he said skittishly, flaying his arms around as if he was a nervous rooster. "Ronaldo invited me to his spooky movie party a-a-and I went to go pick up Sadie but then I asked if Laris wanted to come, then after that we walked to the clock house but then this really weird stuff started happening and the-"

"Easy Steven, slow down." Naruto chuckled, watching Steven start to get all worked up over this must mean something really exciting happened at that old lighthouse. "You can tell us all about it in the morning. Right now, I think you need some sleep. In fact, I think we could all do with some shut eye." And on that note, the group convened inside and went their separate ways, each having something to ponder on as they drifted into slumber.

 **-One Week Later-**

A harsh gasp cut through the calming silence of Amethyst's room as Naruto rose from his bed, which was a collection of sofa cushions and a tarp they found lying around somewhere. Sweat dripped from his nose as his hand rest shakily on his forehead. "D-Damn it. Not again, not now." He whispered, the fresh images of his nightmare still ingrained in his mind. A red, demonic eye loomed overhead, it's bloodshot veins prevalent as it glared into Obsidian's very soul.

He knew what this meant, he always did. Something dark was coming his way, something he wouldn't be able to face and Kurama was getting jittery. He knew who it was, he could feel it deep in his gem that they were tracking him, you could call it a sixth sense if you wanted too. He feared their return, both he and Kurama, but now it just won't be him who suffers this time around.

"Obsidian, are you alright? I thought I heard-"

"N-No, Amethyst I'm fine." He said, turning swiftly to his blue little friend - quickly wiping the nervous look off his face. "There's…..nothing to worry about," he smiled weakly, trying to hide the terror inside.

"...Obsidian, please tell me what's wrong. Was it a bad dream?" Amethyst asked, taking her spot next to him as she placed a calming hand on his shoulder. Surprisingly enough, Amethyst seemed to be taking this far more seriously than most things in general - she's never been one to be a person's shoulder to cry on, but this was not just someone.

"...yeah, I guess you could say that." He said, taking her hand in his as he squeezes lightly. "I….I saw them again, the home world gems. They were coming for me and I had nowhere to run, and you four paid the price of my weakness - I-I can't let that happen."

"And it won't," Amethyst insured firmly, looking Naruto directly in his nervous eyes. "They won't hurt you or anyone else, do you understand? We'll find them and stop them; there's nothing to worry about."

"...You're right," Obsidian smiled weakly, "besides, it was only a dream." Amethyst agreed with a smile of her own. After a bit of small talk between the two, Amethyst went off in search of the other gems, leaving Naruto to ponder his own thoughts. His weak smile soon faded as she left the room as the weight of his situation became even more evident. No matter what she said he knew this wasn't that simple, Jasper is coming and everyone will suffer for his mistakes.

"Amethyst, Steven, Garnet, and Pearl - I am sorry for what is to come. I truly am."

 **-Living Room-**

"Yum, you toast good!" Steven cheered as he pulled back his golden marshmallow from the flame as he slides it into his waiting mouth, savoring the sugary goodness. Connie and Steven sit before the open furnace of their beach house, roasting marshmallows on the open fire as they enjoyed each other's company.

"Good job, not burning that one, Steven." Connie smiled, loading another mallow onto her own poker to cook it over the flames.

"What is it about Marshmallows that makes them so…..good?" As he asked this question, something caught his eye. The fresh new face of the Crystal gems had just strolled in with a troubled look etched on his face. "Naruto, hey you've gotta try one of these. There amazing!" Steven cheered, pushing the bowl of soft, pillowy treat towards him.

"Well, with enthusiasm like that how could I not." He chuckled, picking a mallow from the top as he squeezes it between his thumb and forefinger. "What is this exactly?"

"It's a Marshmallow," Steven clarified as Connie watched, her eyes darting between Naruto and Steven.

"A Marsh-...mallow?" He hummed before he brought the fluffy treat to his lips and nibble on it. "Interesting flavor, very interesting. Maybe there's something to this eating thing after all. Tell me, what's it made out of?" He questioned as he chucked the remaining treat into his open mouth.

"Mostly animal byproduct. Stuff like hooves, bone marrow, collagen and lots of sugar and corn syrup." Connie listed off, snatching up a marshmallow before tossing it down her gullet with a smile.

"...interesting blend." Naruto chuckled nervously, rather perplexed as to why she knew this and why exactly this is a human treat. " _Maybe they enjoy eating animal byproduct. I have much to learn about these humans."_ He thought as both Connie and Steven began to yell either "corn sugar" and "sugar syrup" while shoving handful of marshmallows into their open mouths. " _I don't know why, you've already been one, dattebayo!"_ Obsidian froze, his "heart" skipped a single beat - a voice, another voice just…..spoke to him inside his own mind. " _Or have you already forgotten me? That's harsh, and after all we've been through too!"_

"N-Naruto? Is that you?" Obsidian whispered, catching Steven's attention.

"Hey, Naruto. Are you alright?" He asked, snapping Obsidian from his thoughts.

"O-Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess." He said absentmindedly, coming up with a half-baked idea to try and sell his issue off. Steven's follow up was interrupted by Connie's cell, which she quickly answered - almost as if she knew exactly who it was. They talked for a minute before Connie hung up, a solemn expression evident on her features.

"Looks like I gotta get going," She sighed, visibly sad at the prospect of leaving.

"Awe no, why?" Steven whined, even his marshmallows couldn't console him.

"There's a snow storm coming, my parent's don't want me getting stuck here." She clarified, brushing the case of her phone with her thumb. " _Why did something like this have to happen now of all times?"_ Connie thought bitterly, " _I only have a handful of times that I can spend with Steven and we were having such a good time, too."_

"Man, that stinks." He stated, his deeper thoughts mimicking Connie's.

"Wouldn't it be fun if we got snowed in together." She smiled, staring deeply into Steven's starry eyes as a light blush came to her cheeks. Steven gasped in excitement,

"we could stay up all night and watch the snowfall." He returned her stare, a similar blush adorned his chubby cheeks.

"Hello you three," Garnet said as she, Amethyst, and Pearl strolled in, taking a spot in the kitchen area. They both replied with a quick hello while Naruto seemed rather unresponsive as he stared off towards the window, watching the beginning of the flakes fall from the sky, his mind lost in the sea of thought.

"You all having a nice time?" Pearl questioned.

"Yeah, but Connie has to go soon," Steven sighed as they both stood and walked to the gem's side.

"Maybe the storm will miss us. Sometimes the forecast is completely wrong." Connie hoped.

"No, it's definitely going to snow," Garnet said firmly, crushing Connie's dream as quickly as it began.

"That's the 4/11, yo." Amethyst chimed in her serious demeanor now completely thrown to the waste side.

"Trust me," Garnet nodded as Connie looked to Steven.

"Garnet has future vision," Steven whispered to Connie, making sure she understood why they needed to trust Garnet's word.

"You kids better get yourself to Greg's." Garnet smiled.

"No, wait. We can't go yet, I haven't showed you this Tubetube video yet." Steven begged, trying to find anything to spend a few precious seconds with his friend.

"Steven," Garnet said, kneeling before the boy with an authoritative tone.

"I-It's only, like, 1 minute long." He lied.

"I know you don't want her to go, but you have to make the right choice." Garnet wisely said, before planting a small kiss to Steven's forehead, sparkles dancing where lips connected. Steven laughs, rubbing his forehead with a light blush on his chubby cheeks, "haha, that tickles." He smiled, but his smile soon faded as his eyes glazed over. He stood stock still, not a single twitch or hair out of place, he was experiencing Garnet's future vision. Visions of many possibilities slipped in and out of his mind, some many to comprehend, he began to feel overwhelmed. He soon opened his eyes, but this time he was back at their beach house, his shoulders still firmly gripped by Garnet - time almost seemed to stand still.

"W-What? Garnet, what happened?" He asked, staring at the square mother who smiled down at him.

"I gave you my ability for just a moment." She explained as Steven rubbed his forehead gently.

"You mean….I had future visions?" He asked a part of him seemed excited by this prospect, but another saw how paralyzing having visions of the future truly could be. To know every step you could take, every mistake, and every consequence was almost a little too much for our star wearing gem.

"Tell me what you saw." Garnet implored.

"Well, I saw some good things, but mostly bad things." He said, replaying all the events in his head like a very odd clip show.

"And now you can make the right choice." She said wisely. He nodded, determination in his star-filled eyes. "Connie, we have to go now." He grabbed his friend by the wrist and ran outside, leaving the gems to watch and smile.

"Awe, they're gonna make a cute couple one day." Naruto smiled gently as he watched them rush across the beach at a moderate pace, heading straight for Greg's Car Wash.

"What? Steven and Connie, a couple? Where would you-" Pearl began to deny only to hear Amethyst speak up with her own speculation.

"I wonder if Steven knows Connie has a crush on him?" She chuckled.

"Really? I thought it was the other way around." Said Naruto, both sharing in a laugh at how adorable those two seemed to be.

"You're both wrong," Garnet said stoically, bring a sigh of relief to Pearl.

"Thank you, Garnet, finally a voice of-" Pearl started but stopped shortly afterward as Garnet began to speak.

"They both have a crush on each other," She smiled, before leaving the three to their own devices.

 **-Night-**

"Pfft, Garnet! PFFT! Garnet, are you up?" Amethyst whispered quite loudly, defeating the purpose of whispering in the first place. She lowers herself delicately from the small pool that connected her room with Garnet's, using a combination of her whips and the rocky terrain around her. As she grew lower and lower, she was unaware of the tall figure standing behind her descending form.

"What is it Amethyst?" Garnet said as the little gem touched down on solid ground, getting a loud screech from her teammate.

"Jeez, Garnet. You scared the crap out of-" She began, only to see the "look" in Garnet's shaded eyes. "R-Right, let's get straight to the point. Ummm, well…..y-you can see into the future, right?" She said nervously, twiddling her thumbs as her eyes stayed glued to Garnet's boots.

"You know I can," Garnet said simply.

"R-Right, so I just wanted to know if….maybe you can look into the future for me?" Said Amethyst, practically wrenching the words from her lips as it almost seemed too embarrassing to ask Garnet to do such a thing and to be honest, it probably was. Only a single gem has ever asked Garnet to use her future vision for their own personal gain and that was Steven who was simply infatuated with the idea.

Garnet stayed quite for a moment, simply glaring at her friend with the same unmoving shades before asking a very simple question. "Why?" Amethyst seemed perplexed, surprised to have actually made it this far without being turned away immediately.

"Well, I was thinking about….you know, asking Obsidian to join me for a night on the town. Show him the sights, get him used to the local people, and get some food with him at some local restaurants and I was wondering if-." Amethyst began only to be interrupted by her square haired friend.

"You want to ask him out on a date, don't you?" Garnet asked with a sly smirk, one in which Amethyst wasn't too happy to see.

A dark blush quickly spread across Amethyst's face as she shut her eyes tight and clenched her fists nervously. "N-N-N-NO! OF C-COURSE NOT, WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU THINK THAT!" She hissed before she composed herself. "I-I mean, no. It's just a….friendly walk and stuff."

"If you're not going to tell me the truth then there's no reason for me to help you," Garnet said sternly, turning from her friend. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get some sleep tonight." She went to walk only to feel a small hand grasp her's, holding in place.

"F-Fine, I'm thinking about asking him on a date." Said Amethyst simply, her pristine white hair covering her now blushing face.

"See, what that so hard to say?" Garnet asked with a knowing smirk.

"You…...you know all along, didn't you!?" Amethyst practically screamed, only for one of Garnet's digits to find it's way to her lips, silencing her.

"Shhh, Steven is sleeping. Besides, I don't think you want your date to hear you, do you?" She asked, her smirk never leaving her. "And yes I did, I see many possible futures and this was one of them."

"Okay then, can you tell me if he'll say yes?" Amethyst asked, still rather irritated about Garnet toying with her feelings like that.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Garnet asked.

"So I don't get hurt, of course!" Amethyst blurted out, tired of all these endless questions. "What happens if he doesn't have the same feelings? what if he doesn't like me because of my height, hair, or skin? Maybe he has a secret Gem World girlfriend we don't know about. There are a million reasons why I want to know, so just tell me, please."

"...No," She said, leaving Amethyst jaw on the floor.

"Why not?" She asked

"Because it won't help you," Garnet said simply, pushing her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "I've seen hundred's of options of this exact scenario and many were good and many were bad. I could only show you possibilities not certainties. I'm sorry, but I believe you'll just have to wing it like everyone else."

"...Fine," And soon Amethyst crushed back up to her room, mumbling the whole way back up. Amethyst slipped deep into slumber as she was unaware of how well Garnet played her just now. The only scenario that ended with both Amethyst and Naruto going out was this particular one, the one where Garnet denies her accesses to her powers. Now, if she's played her cards right, her blue little friend will finally find some happiness that she's truly deserved.

 **Thank you all for reading, please PM me if you have any questions and please review. Also, quick note, my updates for this story and many of my others will be very few and far between. I am very sorry for the inconvenience and I hate that it is this way, but I have more pressing matters like my College work and my family to deal with. Thank you all once again for your support of this story and I will try to update as much as I can, I promise you that.**


	6. A New Member of the Band

**Chapter 4**

 **Naruto Universe: A New Member of the Band**

 **I own Nothing**

"Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst!" Steven howled as he barged through the screen door of his beach house, stumbling into the room like a tipsy toddler. He looked around, his eyes scanning the living room for any sign of his colorful friend only to find nothing but the usual sofa and commodities that rested in the living room.

He searched the living room/kitchen from top to bottom and didn't find hide nor hair of his short little gem, so he decided to search the only other area she could possibly be in, her room. Now, many would wonder why Steven didn't try her room in the first place once he noticed she wasn't in the living room at the very beginning. Well, you see, for the past 24 hours Amethyst has practically barricade herself in her room for unknown reasons, many who've tried to enter such as Pearl or Obsidian were met with a towering wall of stuff keeping them sufficiently blocked from her room. Even her "secret" water hatch that leads to Garnet's room was covered by a huge novelty penny that, with Garnet's help, could have been moved but seeing how much effort Amethyst has put in to keep them out, the gems elected to let her be for now.

So now Steven stood at the precipice of the blockade, the massive wall of mixed items and garbage, and with a harsh intake of air, he dived head first into the mess of smells and odors. As he found out once he was in there, the wall wasn't that sturdy nor was it that hard to break through, it was just the smell that kept everyone at bay. Steven soon rolled out on the other side, considerably smellier than he was beforehand, as he looked around Amethyst's massive room.

"Amethyst!" He yelled again, his pubescent voice reverberating against the massive halls of her cave-like room. He was met with only silence and the slow weaning off his echoing voice. He shook a few pieces of pepperoni from his hair as he treks through his friend's mess of a room. It took a few minutes before he found the short gem standing in front of a decorative full-length mirror, her body shifting from different forms and heights.

"Okay…..maybe this one?" She said, stretching into a heightly lady clad in a white frilly dress, her face and hair still intact except for the noticeable addition of blush and her hair done up into a high ponytail and her bangs covering her right eye. "No, no, no! Obsidian wouldn't like that, he probably doesn't like a gem being taller than him." She then shifted back to her standard form with a concerned look on her face, "why is this so damn hard?!"

"Amethyst?" Amethyst practically jumped out of her skin at Steven's voice, "what are you doing?"

"S-S-Steven! What the hel- err, heck are you doing in my room?!" Amethyst stammered as she covers the mirror with a crappy grey blanket.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot dad is cleaning out his storage room. I was thinking since you're so good at stacking your…...ummm, stuff, maybe you wouldn't mind giving dad and I your stacking expertise." Steven said, trying to be as smooth as he could be which brought a soft smile to her face. Steven always knew how to bring her out of her own her smile soon faded as she looked back to her mirror, a thoughtful look edging its way onto her features,

"I don't know Steven," she said, "I-I've kinda got a lot on my plate today."

"Does it have to deal with that mirror in the corner? Is it a crystal gem problem?! Do you want me to get Garnet and Pearl?" Steven asked, prepared to rush outside to gather the gems but were stopped by Amethyst's grip on his wrist.

"N-No!" Amethyst practically yelled, but quickly composed herself. "I mean….umm, no don't. It's a personal problem, they don't need to know about it."

"Does it have to do with Obsidian?" Amethyst noticeably stiffened, "you mentioned his name a few seconds ago when you shifted."

Her eyes shifted wildly around the room as she tried to think of something to explain what Steven had seen, "...H-Hey, why don't I come help you and your dad clean up that stuffy storage room, huh? It'll be fun."

"Really Amethyst?" She nodded quickly, eliciting a cheer from the hybrid gem, "alright, thank you! Let's go, dad's gonna be so glad to hear this!" And without much resistance from Amethyst, Steven dragged her towards his father's overflowing storage area, unaware of the tail that was slowly gaining on them with growing concern.

The two shortest members of the Crystal Gems now stand outside a heavily filled storage space which was owned by none other than the rocking dad himself, Greg Universe. Like many people before him, his fallen into the same trap of hoarding objects from the past, believing in some way that it would be useful in the future. But now he's noticed his blunder and has called upon his son to come and help him clean up, unaware of the 2 gems who decided to tag along.

"Dad, dad. I brought Amethyst," Steven said with glee, presenting Amethyst like some sort of grand price or the perfect answer to their dilemma

Greg who's been busy in his own right, pulling out the heavier objects to make room for him and his son, turned to face his son and crystal gem with a cocked brow. "Amethyst? Why bring…..umm, hey Steven?" He began to say only to see something he was not expecting. Behind both Amethyst and Steven loomed an unknown being who, by his attire, didn't seem to be a local of Beach City or anywhere for that matter.

"Yeah, dad?" Steven asked calmly, unaware of the tall figure behind him.

"Who's that?" Greg asked nervously, pointing his son in the direction of the strangely clad newcomer with growing alarm.

Steven turned, only for his eyes to widen in glee as he ran to the gem's side with his trademark grin. "Oh, Naruto! What are you doing here?" He asked as he was soon joined by Naruto's side by Amethyst who held a nervous but cheaper smirk.

"You came running through the house calling for Amethyst, I got concerned. I thought it might have been an emergency so I tagged along." He said matter-of-factly before his eyes were drawn to the balding man who stood in the storage area. Slipping past Steven and Amethyst, Obsidian now stood face to incredibly close face to Steven's father, analyzing him as a scientist would a new specimen. "So, you are the one they call "Greg", how interesting," he said, circling the pudgy guitarist with a critical eye. He grips the long mane Greg proudly sports and holds it gently in both hands. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I-I can't really say the same about you," Greg said timidly, pulling his hair from the odd gem's hands as gently and politely as he could. "Who exactly are you?"

"Dad, I already told you. He's another gem from the gem homeworld, his name is Obsidian, but he likes to be called Naruto. We found him in a hole in a chasm, and now he's staying with us back at the beach house." Steven clarified, moving a few of the lighter boxes from the room to the car lot outside so as to clear up more room for a moment.

"You didn't tell me any of that!" Greg yelled, inching away from the new gem with a nervous look in his eyes.

"I didn't?" Steven asked timidly, tapping his chin in thought

"No! Why wasn't I informed that my son was in the same house with a strange intergalactic gem!...No offense." He said hoping to not seem as rude as his statement suggested, but it was also somewhat of a safeguard in the hopes that this new gem would decapitate him or something for disrespecting him.

"None was taken, Mr. Universe," he said with a friendly smile, waving off the backhanded comment as nothing more than a father's anxiety. Besides, over his 5,000 years on countless planets, Naruto has run into his fair share of rude remarks from many walks of life, this one was a pinprick compared to the vast library of insults and threats Naruto has been given both in this life and his alter egos.

"Dad, I hang around strange intergalactic gems all the time," Steven said, "If you're fine with Amethyst you should be fine with Naruto." He said as Amethyst hung her arm around the small pudgy friend with a wicked grin.

"Haha, yeah cause I'm as strange as it gets, Greg-o!" She howled with a hearty laugh.

"Yeah, I know, but I know Amethyst and I know she was staying with you." He said with a nervous sigh, he's getting too old for things like this. "This….this guy is from the gem homeworld, and if my memory serves me, that's not a good thing. Rose told me all about the Gem Wars, how could I not be a little unnerved knowing he's so close to my kiddo."

"Mr. Universe, if I may." Naruto began, getting the balding adult's attention. "I understand your uneasiness of the situation. Perhaps if you were given enough time to get to know me, then I might be able to put your mind at ease. How about I help with the organising? It would be a great way for us to understand one another."

"W-Wow, I guess that's….pretty nice of you, um, Naruto was it?" Naruto nodded, "okay, and you can just call me Greg, Mr. Universe was my dad." Greg presents his hand which Naruto quickly took, making sure he didn't crush it like he did the first time someone offered him their hand in friendship.

"Alright then, let's get started." And so they were off, sorting through Greg's storage room with a delicate touch and a critical eye, but unsurprisingly, a set of those critical eyes found their way aimed straight towards a certain blonde who, right now, was carrying on a conversation with Greg about what type of music he created.

" _Okay Amethyst, it's showtime. You've been practicing this whole time, you can do this!"_ She thought as her heart pounds against her chest like a war drum. She placed down a few useless knick knacks in the "keep" pile as she adjust her outfit and runs her fingers through her long locks. After taking a deep breath, she swallowed her nerves and charges forward, stopping a foot from her destination. Greg and Obsidian's conversation soon came to an end, allowing the two to get back to sorting through this room chalk full of memories. " _O-Obsidian, I was just wondering - say it out loud you idiot, out loud!"_

O-Obsidian!" She nervously hiccuped, catching the gem's attention.

"Yes, Amethyst?" He asked sweetly, placing a few empty boxes to the side.

" _How should I say this? M-Maybe I should just like my normal self?...No, then he won't take this date seriously, and he'll only think we are just hanging out as friends! Maybe I should just ask casual, yeah, that sounds right."_ Soon, she landed on a semi-solid plan of attack. She steeled her resolve as she stared the gem down with wavering conviction. " _It's now or never"_ she thought, "I-I-I was wondering - if you're not busy, of course, would you maybe want to-" Just as she was moments away from the point of no return in her confession, the stack of boxes labelled "X-Mas" that was stacked precariously next to her fell, crushing her in an avalanche of Christmas Wreaths and red and green Christmas lights. Behind the now toppled stake was Steven, looking a bit guilty for his clumsiness.

"S-Sorry Amethyst, I didn't mean to-" He began but was quickly cut off when Amethyst popped up, knocking the Christmas decorations to the floor with a hard crunch.

"N-Nah, don't worry Steven, I'm all good." She implored, wrenching a small wreath from around her neck. Naruto quickly stretched his hand out for his fallen friend which she wholeheartedly accepted as a light blush crept onto her cheeks.

"I'm glad, now was there something you wanted to ask me?" He asked, ignorant of how close she was to baring her soul to him not 5 seconds ago.

" _You made great headway, just finish your sentence. Come on, don't chicken out now! You got this, heart of a warrior!"_ Her inner self-chanted, ready to drive her physical self to the promise land of Obisidan's arms around her. "I-I was….just wondering if you…..were going to come back tomorrow to help pick up some more?! We could really use you." She stammered, her cowardice winning in the end. " _Weak, absolutely weak!"_

"Of course, whenever you need me." He said with a smile, sending a shiver through Amethyst's spine and a tinge of shame washed over soon after. How could she have chickened out so quickly, after all of that work put into it for the past 24 hours now down the freaking drain!

"Well, if we keep this pace up, we'll be done in no time!" Greg said boastfully, scooting a few boxes outside the storage area with his feet while his hands are occupied with a few of his old antic guitars from his hay day. "I haven't seen these things in years. Hey, here's my starter electric guitar. I always hated the orange finish, though."

" _What's wrong with orange?!"_ The voice of a ghost long since forgotten tickled the back of Obsidian's mind, begging to be heard. " _I mean, come on man! Defend our color."_ There it was once again, the voice of Naruto Uzumaki, the original. Over the past two days, Obsidian has begun to hear more and more quips from the distant voice of the orange defender, only for it to disappear as quickly as it came once he reached out to speak with it.

"Defend our….." Naruto train of thought wavered as his mind began to wonder. "Color….."

"Ummm, hey Naruto, you alright? You're kinda freaking me out." Greg said, waving a hand in front of the petrified Naruto. "Do you always space out like that?" He asked Steven who gave a silent shrug.

"Hmm? Oh, right! Sorry, forgot where I was for a second. Now, what did you say about orange?" He asked sheepishly, as embarrassing as it seemed to space out after a few choice words, it has been happening more and more as time goes on for Obsidian, and his brief encounters with his former self seemed to be the cause of it.

"I was just talking about my old starter guitar," Greg said, gesturing to the instrument that laid propped up in the 'keep' box. "It was the first expensive thing I ever bought for myself, after saving up for months I had to choose between a bright pink lefty or a 'for sale' burnt orange righty with an amp. At the time, I hated pink, but now….."

"Guitar?" He asked, peering behind Greg to find this unknown instrument. Within the box labeled "keep" was a burnt orange V guitar which, though a bit dusty, seemed to be in quality condition. "May I see it?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," he said with a shrug, watching as the intergalactic mineral played with the dinghy axe, his thumb strumming the cords lightly. "If you want it, keep it. Seriously, I have about 3 other guitars back at the car wash."

"Are you sure?" Greg nodded, "thank you though I do have one question." "How do you play it?"

Greg collapsed in shock at the boy's nonchalant question, while Amethyst couldn't help but howl at Greg's reaction. "W-Why do you even want my old guitar if you don't know the basics of playing it?"

"Well…..it looks cool and its orange so….why wouldn't I want it?" His simplistic answer brought another round of laughter from Amethyst, who was now propping herself up on a stake of old magazines, trying to catch her breath. "But, if I must know how to use one to have one, then would you be willing to teach me?"

"You mean, you want _me_ to teach you?" Obsidian nodded, "wouldn't you want one of the crystal gems to show you or something?"

"I was not aware that they knew how to play - though, even if I did I don't think I would like to be taught by them," he said sheepishly, scratching his head with a nervous laugh.

"Why not?" Greg wondered.

"Pearl….does not seem that fond of me, and Garnet doesn't seem like the teaching type, that and she has been avoiding me more and more as time goes on," Naruto explained, though he wasn't too knowledgeable about this, seeing as neither of them wanted to explain themselves to him. Pearl has always been distant so it wasn't surprised at its continuation, but Garnet's growing cold shoulder towards him seemed to be a cause for alarm. What is something he's done? Unlikely, seeing as he hasn't done anything major in the past few weeks. Possibly it was a personal thing or hidden resentment like Pearls but it hadn't taken root until now. Whatever it might be, all naruto knew was that Garnet seemed quick to leave when he entered the room, her answer's to his questions were curt and short, and she seemed to grow redder with rage if he got too close to her. "Besides, from what I've heard from Steven, you are quite the musician. If I was going to learn from anyone, it might as well be from a…..what did Steven call you again? A "rock star"?"

"Yeah dad, let's do it!" Steven said, jumping before his father as his eyes sparkled with hope and wonder. "We can finally have a third member of the University of Universe's, Mr. Universe, Steven Universe, and Naruto…..hey," He looks to Naruto, the stars still visible in his dark eyes. "would you mind if your last name is Universe?"

Naruto thought on that, perplexed as to how he should answer the boy's question. " _Well, our last name was Uzumaki. Universe - Uzumaki, they sound the same to me."_ The voice spoke up once more, leaving Naruto in a daze like a stare at the storage ceiling.

"Now Steven, you know you can't just give away our last name like that. Besides, Naruto might-" Greg began to reprimand only to hear the catatonic gem speak.

"S-Sure Steven, Universe sounds….good." His mind blurred once more, another sensation pulsed through his body as the voice dissipated to the recesses of his memory.

"See dad, he's ready to become a fully-fledged member of the University of Universe's. Our next alumni to be, Naruto Universe!" He cheered with a childlike vigour, spinning in place from the excitement of it all.

Greg chuckled at his son's enthusiasm, his warm spirit reminded him of his Rose every time he saw it. "Alright, alright kiddo," he said, ruffling his son's curly hair. "When you put it that way - why not, I'll help you become a rock star! Come on, we've pretty much finished for today. Let's start on your first lesson, and don't worry - there's no payment necessary, these lessons are on me."

" _Great, now I have practically no chance in getting Naruto's attention now."_ She sighed, plopping her rump down on a box of old sweaters as she watched Greg and Steven steal _her_ Obsidian away from her, just as she was building up her second wind - or so she told herself. As she watched, disheartened, she couldn't help but wonder if she should even try for this change in their relationship. I mean, she finally has him back and it's only been a month, tops. Why jump the gun? Why try and make a deeper and more intimate relationship without stepping back and allowing herself to enjoy being his friend for just a little bit more. " _Who are you trying to kid?"_ Yet, even though she tried to keep her true feelings quiet - in her mind, they could never be truly silenced. " _You've wanted this chance for over 5,000 years, and now that you can almost taste it you're trying to find excuses to stop?! Pathetic! You are A to the M-E-T-H-Y-S-T! You don't let anything hold you back, not the rules, laws, nagging, and especially yourself! You do what you want when you want, so what's stopping you! Get out there and take what is yours! Those perfect Obsidian lips!"_

The…..odd ending aside, this was the perfect pep-talk to spur the blue gem into action. With a determined nod, Amethyst rushes to catch up with her retreating companions, ready to give it her all to finally get what she wanted.

 **-Greg's Car Wash-**

"So, this is where you live? I had no idea people lived in such odd places." Naruto said with a nod as he looks to the luminate elephant dowsing itself with water, the symbol of Greg's car wash It's A Wash.

"Well, this isn't really my house. My house is the van outside, the one with my name on it." Greg clarified, unlocking his car wash to let himself and his guests see his place of business. The lobby of the car wash was nothing special, slick linoleum flooring, pale cream walls, and a row of chairs lined up with the perfect view to watch their car being washed. "But, since I've gotten a few noise complaints from the neighbors, I've started to do my sessions in here. The acoustics don't help all that much - but hey, it's either this or pay a fine."

"I like the acoustics," Steven said, slipping past Obsidian to stand in the middle of the empty waiting area as his chest soon puffs out from the air he was inhaling. "HELLO!" Steven yelled through the empty waiting area of the car wash, his loud cheerful voice bouncing off the walls.

"Yeah, I bet you do kiddo." Greg chuckled, tussling the boy's curly hair. "Now, before we start on the basics, I want to show you how it's done. Steven, let's get set up." He said, walking towards a closeted area where he keeps his extra equipment that cannot or won't fit in his party van.

"All right!" Steven cheered as he ran to catch up with his father, leaving both Naruto and Amethyst alone once again.

"Hey Obsidian, can we talk for a sec." Amethyst hummed timidly, her boastful pep-talk still couldn't make this any less difficult.

"Sure," He said simply, turning to his longtime friend as Greg and Steven set up mere feet away.

She sighed, hoping to release all of her anxiety so she could focus on this moment in the here and now. She stared deeply into those big blues and couldn't help but get lost in them for a moment, how they brought out so many memories of a simpler time, a time where it was just him and her. There was no Crystal Gems or Peridot, there was only an underdeveloped Amethyst and a kind hearted Obsidian who tried to make her world a little bit better. "I-I've been thinking, we really haven't had a lot of alone time together." She started, hopefully breaking the tension with a bit of a lead in.

"Haha, I suppose you could say that," he smiled, propping himself against an adjacent wall. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was the light hitting her just right or maybe it had to do with her nervous titter, but something about Amethyst seemed….different to him. A good different, a really good different. "Though, we did spend about 2 days rummaging around your room."

"I meant alone, alone time. Without the gang, without people staring over our shoulders." She blushed, soon realizing how utterly foolish she sounded right now. " _Alone, alone time? What are you talking about!"_ What was coming over her? She's never been this shy or embarrassed. Amethyst embraced her weird, brash nature and wore it like a badge of honor, but now, now being in front of Obsidian seems to be zapping her bold attitude and replacing it with a meek, stuttering mess.

"I guess you're right." He smiled, putting Amethyst's mind at ease for now, at least. If she could say one thing about Obsidian it would be that no gem has ever made her feel simultaneously knee buckling nervous and light-headedly happy in the span of five seconds then he could. This thought bolstered her resolve even more, to know there is only one gem that could make her feel more than just playful or mischievous only cemented her idea of making this gem hers.

"Y-Yeah, so I was wondering, maybe you and I could-" suddenly, a loud, almost glass shattering rift rattled the building as Steven strummed his father's amped electric guitar with reckless abandonment.

"Steven! I told you, always check the volume before you strum. You could bust someone's eardrums!" Greg said loudly, his hands clapped tightly over his own ears to hopefully stop the painful ringing that bangs against his skull.

"Sorry dad," Steven said, handing off the guitar before he messed with it once more.

"It's fine, just keep an eye out for that next time, alright?" Said Greg, his firm, fatherly tone soon abandoned after he saw the downtrodden look on his son's face. Just like his mother before him, Steven had this way to melt Greg's no matter what he did.

He slipped the guitar sling over his head as the axe hung directly in front of his rotund belly, "alright Naruto, are you ready for a show?" Naruto nodded, pulling his height inclined friend with him as Greg began his demonstration, all the while unaware of Amethyst's penetrating gaze. " _I will get your attention, mark my words! I don't care if it takes all damn night."_ She would regret ever thinking such a thing. Her string of unfortunate events seemed to follow her each and every time she was close to even uttering her request. She just wanted to go on a date with Obsidian, was that so hard? Was that a crime? Soon, the sun hung low over the horizon and our little group of musicians were winding down. Amethyst, now sitting atop Greg's van, had given up an hour beforehand and could only sit there - staring off into the distances as she tried to figure out how everything went so wrong today.

"Holy cow, Naruto. You're a natural," Greg hooted, planting a nice hard slap to the back on Naruto, amazingly proud of the progress Naruto has made. Both he, Steven, and Naruto had just finished up their tutorial on the basics of guitars and Greg was astounded by his work. "I've never seen some memorize the finger placement so quickly," He said, Steven nodding in affirmation of his father's statement.

Even Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet took a long while to understand the basics because of their aversion to learning something so….how did Pearl put it? " _Useless,"_ Steven thought, " _yeah, that's it"_. At the very beginning of the Crystal Gems introduction to the musical arts and to Greg Universe they didn't understand why they needed to learn something that didn't help protect the people of earth, especially Pearl though Amethyst was just happy to find an outlet for her massive amount of energy. So, it came as a shock to both Steven and Greg to see Naruto actually enjoyed learning about the magic of the axe and how quickly he learned the basic chord progressions.

"Thank you, you're too kind." Naruto said kindly, his brand new guitar and case held tightly in his grip. He would never have guessed that music would be something he was good at, through his years as a soldier he thought he could only create destruction, who knew he could also create melodies as well.

"No, I'm just being honest pal." Greg turned to face the gem, a smile placed on his breaded features. "You've got a gift for the guitar man and with a little more sessions with me, I think you'll be all set to rip on that axe."

"Thank you, Greg. I wouldn't have done this without you." He looked around, hoping to find someone he's been hoping to get a hold of all night. While he was learning the very basics from Greg, he noticed his disheartened little gem had left the car wash about an hour ago, he considered following her but thought it would be rude to abandon Greg and Steven, people taking time out of their day to are giving to teach him - so, sadly, he left his friend to her own devices. His search stops as he spots her perched on the hood of Mr. Universe's party van, and a small smile appeared on his face as he saw her bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Her skin clashing with the perfect hue of orange and blues brought out a beauty in Amethyst Obsidian has rarely seen up till now. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up."

"You sure?" He nods, "alright, let's get you to bed Steven." Greg said as he and Steven, who was leaning on his father for support, walked their way towards the beach house where Steven could get some much-needed rest.

"Hey Amethyst," She remained silent, staring absentmindedly off into the horizon. Naruto hops onto the hood of the car, taking a spot right next to his height inclined friend. "I was wondering where you went, I was looking everywhere for you. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," She said dryly.

"Really? You don't sound fine." No response, just a blank, vacant stare off into the distance. "Alright, I'm guessing whatever it is, it's probably not something you want to talk about right now. So, how about we change the subject. You've been trying to tell me something all day and we just keep getting side tracked. What exactly is that something?"

Amethyst perked up slightly, looking from left to right quickly before she turned her full attention on Naruto. This is it, her moment of truth. No distractions, no Steven, no Greg, no nothing. She was free and clear! She opened her mouth, prepared to speak her mind but, slowly, she closed it. Could she risk it? Her luck today hasn't been the best and being cut off once is just a mishap, twice is strange, but 49 times in counting is a sign from something that she was just destined to keep silent about her true plans for her and Naruto.

She sighed, resting her chin on her prone arm and simply said, "don't worry about it, it wasn't important."

"Are you sure? You really seemed adamant about it today," She nods numbly, Naruto sighed "very well." And so the two sat in abject silence, watching as the sun is slowly consumed by the horizon and to be replaced by the full moon and the thousands of twinkling little stars that dotted the dark backdrop that was the night. As the silence persisted, Naruto recalled something Greg and Steven were talking about during their session, he turned to his gloomy friend, "hey Amethyst," he said, getting a very reserved, "hum?"

"Greg and Steven seemed to be really looking forward to this showcase tomorrow, they said something about a New Year and fireworks, I think."

"You mean the New Year's fireworks show?" He nodded, "yeah, he and his dad go every year. Something about tradition or whatever."

"Well, seeing as I've been a royal ass tonight by ignoring you, I was hoping you would like to watch the New Year's fireworks with me, just the two of us?"

Her eyes grew to the size of saucers, " _d-did Obsidian just ask me out?"_ She would have gritted her teeth to dust from how enraged she was at how simple it came to Naruto while she had to jump through hoops and hurdles for hours on end just to get half of her request out to him. She almost thought of rejecting his off for a second, like a split second - probably not even for a second, who was she kidding? She would never turn this down. "J-Just the two of us?" She asked, making 100% sure that what she heard wasn't some hallucination or dream that she created after so many failed attempts.

"Yes, I thought it would be preferable since you brought up a very good point. We haven't really had some "alone, alone" time together. So, how about it?" He said with a smile, Amethyst wasn't sure if his smile was supposed to indicate he was making fun of her earlier comment or he was happy to be asking her such a question, and really, she didn't care.

" _Play it cool, play it cool!"_ She chanted, trying to keep from making an utter fool of herself in front of him. She knew this needed to be handled with grace, tact, and the same cool-headed attitude she's known for. "Yes!" She squealed, launching herself onto him as her arms wrapped around his neck and she snuggled into his cheek - a smile spread across her face. Soon after their little moment, the two went home - ready and waiting for tomorrow night's festivities.

 **-Unknown Location-**

In the cold vacuum of space floats a large golden prison ship that held an uncanny resemblance to a human hand. Inside laid unearthly technology with a single being at the helm of this appendage ship, while another came storming through the control room, her face red with rage as she plants a mighty fist through one of the consoles. "I'm guessing that your meeting with Lapis didn't go as planned?" Peridot asked, masking her own seething rage at the blatant destruction of her equipment.

"Sealed away in a mirror?! Why did we have to pick up one of the most useless gems in the whole quadrant!" Jasper howled, prepared to rip another chunk of electronics and wiring from the walls. "She said that she doesn't know who Obsidian is or if he even landed on that damned planet."

"How unfortunate," Peridot said simply though her tone seemed to betray a different story. As much as she would despise to admit this, she was jus as hopeful that lapis knew something about their little runaway gem as Jasper was, but she knew how to keep herself composed and collected in these trying times.

"She's useless to our cause, I'd say jettison her, it would save on cargo for the other earth gems we are going to haul back to the homeworld," Jasper said, a billowing stream of smoke escapes her nostrils as she turned to one of her gem sisters in arms. "She said she was locked away by a group that goes by the name of the "crystal gems". Probably one of the cells of gems Rose has scampering around on that pitiful rock."

"Jettisoning a useful resource is not my idea of a strategic plan." Peridot quipped, her eyes scanning across her floating screens with little attention given to Jasper's tantrum. "If what she says is true, she would obviously wish to get revenge on those who imprisoned her, handing us an ally that knows the layout of this "earth" and the gems that inhabit it. Argo, I elect _not_ to through Lapis into space."

"And who died and made you queen, Peridot?" Jasper said, her voice dangerously low as she moved from her spot leaning against the deck wall and now fully behind Peridot, quickly snatching up her robotic limb in her massive hand, squeezing it tightly as sparks flew and the metal crumbled under her might grip. "Have you forgotten your place, small fry?"

"N-No, of course not…..Luitenant Jasper, I-I was merely stating my meager opinion as your….humble advisor." Peridot whimpered, Jasper's piercing eyes bore a hole in her very souls as she crunched the metal limb enhancement and, subsequently, her small arm within the enhancement.

"An adviser that is very much _expendable_! The only reason you are here is because Yellow Diamond feels that I need help to track down my property, and I want you to remember that too. Once we catch him, he's _mine._ I'll crush anyone who thinks they can take him away from me, that's including know it all squirt like you, got it?" Jasper hissed, jerking Peridot's face towards her by her chin.

"Y-Yes, Lieutenant Jasper. I would never think of taking what is rightfully yours, I just want to do my very best to make sure I can bring you...closer to what is yours, that's all - I swear." Jasper, as the power hungry beast she was, finds Peridot's grovelling acceptable and releases her - dropping the robotic gem on the ground.

"Good, I'm glad we are on the same page." Jasper said, leaving Peridot to stumble to her feet. "and speaking of bringing back what is rightfully mine while I was busy with that useless Lapis, did you find anything that could lead us to him?"

"U-Unfortunately no. Many of my scans have shown up inconclusive for both his unique gem-etics or his ships beacon. I've tried practically everything." Peridot said timidly, turning to her screens for some unforeseen comfort. She found peace in the content information that sped past her visor which is something she desperately needed at this time.

"I don't care how many of those gems we have to torture or interrogate, I will find what is mine and bring him back home." Jasper seethed, gritting her teeth like a wild animal would, barring her fangs for the world to see.

"T-Torture is a bit excessive, don't you think?" Peridot flinched at Jasper's burning gaze, "L-Lieutenant Jasper."

"This coming from the gem who tortured Obsidian like a cold blooded robot," she said coyly, moving closer to the tentative Peridot, breaching her personal space with reckless abandon. "How many times did he scream out for you to stop? His former best friend now ripping at his gem like a rabid animal with the best torture tech we had to offer. He must have been yelling up a storm, but you sat there, as still as a statue."

Peridot wanted to recoil from Jasper but thought better of it, she knew the consequences of doing anything Jasper thought of as insubordination. "I-I was under orders to get information about the rebel base by any means necessary! I wasn't proud of what I had to do." Peridot shrunk in fear as Jasper leered at her, causing her to back down and lower her tone. "B-Besides, he lied to me - he tricked me into…..nevermind, it's not worth mentioning, Lieutenant Jasper." "But, about the search. It might be beneficial if I sent out a few of my Reconocen Robonoids to the 8 remaining planets, to survey the lands for any signs of intelligent life while also scanning for his distinct gem-etic signature."

"Do what you must, but it better get results, I'm tired of searching. The next quadrant that comes up empty will be obliterated." Jasper hissed as she left the room, leaving Peridot to her thoughts. Something is wrong with Jasper, something _very_ wrong. As Peridot switches out her broken right limb enhancer, she couldn't help but think back on how Jasper used to be and how Obsidian's defection has twisted her once close friend into an abusive monster that wanted nothing but destruction and Obsidian bound and gagged at her side. Peridot feared for her life, feared for those around Jasper, and surprisingly, she feared for Obsidians.

 **Thank you all for your support, please review and PM.**


	7. Author's Note: Hiatus

Hello,

It is with a heavy heart that I must take an undisclosed amount of time off from fanfiction. I've been wondering if I should do this for quite some time actually, as many of you have noticed because of my lackluster updating schedule, but I have been burnt out on writing for a while now, it's sadly become, at times, a chore to slog through but I continued because there are hundreds of people who really like my stories and I wanted to give back to them. It has nothing to do with high demand or anything like that, I've just been trying my hardest to create quality content for those who have been gracious enough to review, favorite, and follow my stories - and before I continue I must say, I cannot thank you all enough for the support you have given my page and stories, it means the world to me. So, I don't really know when I will be coming back to , it could be a few weeks or a few months, I just need a break to work on my personal projects and to simply unwind. That being said, this does **NOT** mean any of my stories will be taken off the page or that I will not come back, I will, and hopefully I'll bring a lot more updates for my stories.

Also, Lawrence Helmbain and Darth Khan N7, the two who have given me my first challenges as a Fanfic writer, that also means I won't be updating on your challenges for a while, and I would completely understand if you wish to take your challenge and find someone else who can. My feelings will not be hurt a single bit, I understand you want to see your stories come to life and I cannot do that for you right now. If you two or anyone who has questions, PM me or ask them in a Review, though if you are a guest I won't really be able to answer you.

(12/29/15) As of today, Alucard1959 is on Hiatus for the foreseeable future.

I am sorry and thank you for understanding!


	8. the Moment of Truth: An Unexpected Guest

**Chapter 5**

 **the Moment of Truth: An Unexpected Guest**

 **I own Nothing**

The night fell swiftly as the two returned home as one rushed off to sleep so she could wake refreshed and prepared for tomorrow and what's to come while another walked the beach, his bare feet sinking into the wet sand as his mind was set adrift like the sea. His eyes lingered on the stars as if prepared to see something appear at a moment's notice, and at times, he was prepared for such a thing. The looming threat of his capturers still haunted him along with his usual terrors, the faces of the friends he couldn't save, the loved ones that he left behind to return to this so-called "real" world. It was very clear to Naruto that sleep was not something he desired, it only brought back his pain.

As he turned to return back to the beach house, his eyes spotted a shadowy form open the screen door and rush to the point where the beach ends and the ocean begins. The form sat itself down, allowing the warm salty water to slip between its feet as it also gazed at the heavenly bodies that floated above them. Naruto proceeded with caution, prepared to strike at any moment at this unknown. He inched closer, his body poised to attack, only to find the pondering visage of a young Steven - allowing the tensed gem to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Steven? Fancy meeting you here," Naruto said, tipping his non-existent cap in jest with a quick little bow of his head to boot. "If I may ask, what brings you here?"

Steven seemed dazed, unaware of the gems presence even after he made himself well known with his jestful introduction. He seemed transfixed on the moon above, it's full shape hanging in the sky. "O-Oh, Naruto. Nothing, just...catching some fresh air." He murmured, his voice barely audible.

Naruto's brow furrowed slightly, well aware of the boy's fib. He took a seat next to Steven, allowing his feet to dip into the water as well. "You shouldn't bottle up your feelings Steven, I can tell something's wrong." He stated, "It's okay, you can tell me - I won't tell a soul."

"...Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die," he said, drawing an 'X' across his own heart, "now, what seems to be the problem?"

"...I-It's silly, really. But, I just can't help but feel….like I don't belong in the Crystal Gems. It's not that I don't' want to be a Gem, I love it all - the adventure, my friends, the new places I get to see - it's just….I don't feel like a part of the team." He stammered, fiddling with his shirt's hem. As he continued to look towards the ocean, Naruto could tell this wasn't something that came out of the blue, these feelings must have been around for a long time.

Naruto hummed, scratching his chin in thought before continuing the conversation; "what makes you think that?"

"Without my weapon, how can I contribute to this group?" He asked, "they've put their gems on the line for me countless times, and each time I was helpless to do anything but watch them risk life and limb for me."

"Wait, you haven't awoken your weapon yet?" He wondered, surprised that a crystal so young hasn't awakened such an integral part of his people, especially because of his group's regular run in with crystal creatures.

"Well, I have, kinda sorta. I've only been able to use it once or twice in very serious situations, I can't summon it like you four can." Said Steven, a little disheartened as he recalled how little control over his weapon he had. "I know it'll come with time, but I just feel like I could be more helpful sooner rather than wait for it to just come to me."

"Have you asked them to train you? Help you tap into your true gem potential?" He asked.

"I've thought about it." He sighed, splashing his feet in the water, "Amethyst is too much of a jokester to actually take my training seriously, Pearl would be far way too afraid she'd hurt me, and Garnet...she said no."

"You've asked Garnet?" He asked again.

"Yes, a hundred times!" He sighed in frustration, throwing his hands in the air in a show of child-like aggravation. "Each time I've gotten the same answer, "No, it'll come to you in time. You cannot force your growth". It's not like I'm asking my gem to fix the world or something, I just want it to let me help my friends when they need it. I'm sick of being the burden of the group."

Obsidian, his eyes now transfixed on the boy, placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He reminded him of some much of him/Naruto when he was young - foolish yet strong willed and held one of the biggest hearts you could find. "Steven, the Gems would never see you as a burden. They love you and just want to protect you."

"I know, and I love them too - but I want to protect the ones I love just as much as they do." He said firmly, a look of grim determination etched into the boy's chubby features - he was serious, and it gave Naruto all the answers he needed for what he was about to say.

"And you will, Steven," Naruto said smoothly, standing from the sandy beach and dusting off his clothing while Steven's eyes locked on him. "Your words have touched this poor ol' gems heart and I just can't let this go on any longer."

"W-Wait, you don't me-" Steven asked tentatively.

"Steven Universe, if I may, I'd gladly help you learn to awaken your true potential, Dattebayo!" He proclaimed proudly as he lent his hand to his hopeful new apprentice, helping him to his feet.

"HAH! No way! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The boy cheered with unkempt joy, jumping into the gem's open arms, trying as hard as he could to envelop Naruto in the biggest hug he could muster. This was it, he could finally feel like a true Crystal Gem! He could finally protect everyone, his family, his friends, and his Connie! "Do you really think I can do it?" He asked, enthused about this new challenge but slightly doubtful of his lack of skills getting in the way of doing this.

"Why of course you can, I wasn't the trainer for new recruits in my squadron for nothing," Naruto said confidently, placing the young boy down with a smile. "I had a knack for taking even the roughest gem and polishing them up to perfection - and there's no need to thank me, Steven. You and your father have offered to teach me, it's only fair I do the same for you."

"This is so cool, I can't wait to tell Connie!" Steven giggled, shaking with excitement. "When do we start?"

"Hmm, how about tomorrow morning?" He said, only to see Steven's face contort in sudden realization.

"...Ummm, mornings might not be the best time or Afternoons." Steven said nervously.

"Why not?" Obsidian asked.

"Because the Gems might see us. Amethyst will probably be okay with it, but Garnet and Pearl would flip if they knew you were training me." Steven explained, worried that his new deal might just go up in flames. "Pearl barley trusts you as it is, and Garnet's always been a little too overprotective of me."

"So that only leaves us the night," he said calmly, "then I guess it can't be helped. Each night we shall meet at my training area about a mile down the beach and train there."

"Wait, you have a training area?" Obsidian nodded, "can I see it?"

"You might want to go get some sleep, tomorrow night will be filled with rigorous training - you're gonna need all the sleep you can get," he mentioned though his apprentice didn't seem to heed his advice.

"Ha, Steven laughs in the face of sleep!" Steven howled, "Steven needs no sleep!"

Obsidian just sighed, he knew he couldn't talk the boy out of it, "...very well," he said, taking a knee. "Hop on," soon, Steven took his place on Obsidian's back and with a slight kick off from the sand the two were sailing through the sky like a rocket, heading straight towards their destination.

 **-1 Mile Out: Naruto's Training Ground-**

As swift as the wind, Naruto and Steven arrived at his simple training area. A mile from his sunny beach home was a nice forested area, giving Naruto the perfect area to train while also keep it a secret from the others. His area was an average size of a training area, enough room to move around in and such but not big enough that he had to cut down the whole forest to create.

"It's not much," Naruto said, letting Steven down to survey the training area, "but it's all I need to try and return back to my glory days."

"Wow," the young boy gasped, "when did you have time to do this?"

"For the past few weeks, I've been sneaking out of the house at night to come here and train. Sleep isn't really needed for Gems so the times I don't indulge in some needed sleep, I'm here, trying to return to the way I once was." He explained, taking his spot on a stump which once held a mighty oak as he looked over his training grounds as well. It wasn't extravagant like the vast open areas of Konoha or as high tech and state of the arts as the Gem Homeworlds training simulator, but he didn't need them - all he needed was grit, determination, and the hard work it took to return him back to his original self. Though he would have to admit, some of those features would help him reach his true potential a lot faster than now, but he has to work with what he's got.

"Were you really that strong back in your golden days?" Steven asked.

"I hate to boast, but yes, I was. I could fight armies by myself, clear whole battalions with a single swing, and I pushed my comrades to become stronger as well." He paused, his previous sentence bringing up a dreadful thought. " _In hindsight, that could possibly be my undoing."_ In retrospect, Naruto's years of helping the likes of Peridot and Jasper reach their full potential wasn't his best idea in the heat of the moment but his involvement in their training began long before the idea of betraying his people and the world was in his mind. He saw it as merely doing his world a service to train and strengthen some of its highly respected gems and the grunts that would go into battle alongside him. "But when I escaped the Gem Homeworld, my cracked gem left me in an almost catatonic state, making it impossible for me to keep my skills up to my standards. Leaving my technique and strengths to floundered while I held on to what slim amount of energy I had to survive."

"I would have loved to have seen you fight like you used it, it must have been amazing." The boy stated, taking a seat in front of his new teacher - stars shimmering in his eyes.

"Well, with a few more months of training, you just might." Obsidian nodded, "at this point, I've made good progress, but with the small hours I have to train, I still have ways to go."

Hearing that, Steven felt a bit guilty taking up the little amount of time Obsidian has to train to help him achieve his goal. "I-If you need to focus on your training, then I understand if you can't train me. I don't want to take up your-"

"Nonsense, Steven. I can do both. Besides, I believe having control over the true potential of your gem would only help us in the long run." He said with a tender smile. The boy was very kind to try and give up his training for Naruto's, but he knew that Steven carries this feeling of being useless if he couldn't in some way help the team beyond being the moral center of the group. "I shall first help you awaken your weapon so I can see what we are dealing with here, then I'll work out a training regain to help you use your weapon more frequently, and finally, then I'll teach you techniques and fighting styles that could go with your weapon of choice."

"You really know your stuff, don't you?" he questioned,

"Of course, I've trained over 200 Gems in counting and my regimen was custom designed for all of them. Each one worked like a charm, not to brag or anything." A smile graced the gem's face as he stood, placing a hand on the boy's head and ruffling his fro. "but, if I had to say, I've never trained one as interesting as you, Steven. Most of them were far too serious."

"I can't wait, tomorrow night I'm gonna start my training!" Steven squealed with excitement, his enthusiasm was almost infectious.

"I believe we should head back, we both have a busy day tomorrow." And with that, the two headed back home, Steven holding on tightly to Obsidian's back as he jumped through the nights sky with ease, ready to sleep so tomorrow's festivities could commence.

 **-Tomorrow: 8:30 p.m.-**

"So, these humans fire off colorful explosive devices into the sky for entertainment and celebration?" Obsidian asked, watching from the patio of Steven's home, his trusted friend standing to his left. As he stood there, watching the crew of paid professionals prepares the fireworks for tonight's events, his mind began to wonder to what took place that very day. Steven had looked ready to explode with excitement about tonight's entertainment along with the idea of his first midnight training coming up a few hours afterward. He almost spilled their little secret mere seconds after waking, but that wasn't the memory that stuck out to Naruto about today, it was Garnet. Once more, she has kept her distance from him - from small things like keeping eye contact to a minimum too much more noticeable things such as moving further away from him the closer he inched towards her. Something was wrong, and he couldn't put his finger on it. Was it something he said? Something he did? Who knows, the Crystal Gems have been nothing but a mystery to him since day one.

"Yeah, it's freaking awesome!" Amethyst cheered, taking Obsidian from his thoughtful stupor. "I'm not ashamed to admit that I am a gem who likes her explosions."

He chuckled, "well, I'll keep that in mind." Amethyst's cheeks grew a cherry red, obviously overlooked by the blonde haired gem. "So, you ready to go? If we don't hurry all the good spots will be taken."

"Go where?" Amethyst asked,

"You know, the beach with all the others." He answered rather numbly, pointing towards the beach now filling with the people of Beach City, each one looking excited about the fireworks display.

"What? No way, I know a much better spot. The beach is a chump spot," she answered with a smirk, "trust me."

"...But aren't Steven and the others expecting us?" He asked with a cocked brow, only to be greeted with Amethyst's signature grin.

"They won't care, Steven is just happy that he and his father could see them together," she declared before she grabbed Naruto's hand and began her track towards this "amazing" location. "Now come on, it's about to start!"

"Alright, alright!" He mumbled, slowly being dragged against his will by a gem about 2 feet shorter than him.

 **\- The Beach, 9 p.m.-**

"Dad, it's about to start! Do you have your noise maker?" Steven asked excitedly, his pots gripped tightly in his hands. His father nodded, sporting two "noise makers" as well with the same amount of excitement etched into his hairy features. "How about you two?" Steven questioned, turning to greet the other two observers in his little group.

"U-Uh, yes Steven, we have our cooking utensils armed and ready," Pearl answered hesitantly with a porcelain bowl and a wooden spoon as her noise maker.

"Let's do this," Steven giggled at his square mother's monotone enthusiasm before he quickly turning to stare at the stars, prepared to be hit with the fireworks he so wanted; leaving Garnet and Pearl to their little discussion. "What is troubling you, Pearl."

"T-Troubling? I don't know what you're talking-" She began to lie, only for her square-haired companion to interrupt her.

"You know you are a terrible liar, especially to me. Now explain," Garnet said, a kind but stern tone laced in her words - one of the only way to get the truth out of Pearl.

"*sigh* Alright," Pearl conceded, "I'm still….not comfortable leaving Amethyst alone with Obsidian. I know, I know - typical Pearl, always worrying _too_ much, but how could you and Amethyst be so _calm_ about this?"

"...Though I wouldn't say I _trust_ him, I believe if he wanted to do something against us, he would have already done it." Garnet answered truthfully, turning to meet Pearl's gaze. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"...But, don't you think that we should, I don't know, check up on them. Just to make sure-" Pearl began but was silenced by her leader's words again.

"Pearl, they are fine. Let them have their moment," Garnet said sternly, trying to put an end to the conversation. Though she put the conversation on the outside to an end, another began within her between the two beings that conceived her. " _I-I think Pearl may have a point! We should probably-"_ Ruby started, but Sapphire wanted no part in this discussion." _Ruby, we've worked so hard to make sure they could have this alone time. Why would we ruin their beautiful moment?"_

Though Garnet tried to leave this conversation alone, Pearl didn't want too. She might sound like a broken record but she couldn't help it, she's always been more cautious for her own good. "Garnet, you can't just-"

"Guys, guys, guys! Shhh, you're gonna miss it!" The two silenced as the first firework went off, igniting the nights sky with colorful sparks of light. Steven stared, awestruck at them, as he smashed his utensils together as he cheered the start of one of his favorite events of the year. Garnet played along, clanking her pots and pans together in rhythm with Stevens - though hers was far louder than his - before she looked to Pearl, who, unfortunately, was nowhere to be found - her wooden spoon and bowl discarded in the sand. Garnet grimaced, she knew this might happen. She left quietly, leaving Greg and Steven to have their moment as she went off to stop someone from ruining another person's moment.

 **-On Top of the Monument-**

"So, this is your secret area?" Naruto asked, his legs now dangling from on top of the monument that has been chiseled into the mountain side. He looked out towards the night sky, watching the first few fireworks crack off into the air. "I gotta give it to you, it sure is pretty up here."

"Right?" She smiled, feeling the cool wind of the night air brush against her skin, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine. "Who wouldn't like this? Explosions, loud noises, it's perfect!"

"Yeah," He said numbly, staring off into the stars as his mind soon traveled to the idea of what awaited him in those stars, the vicious creatures that hunted him, that wanted him. He's put Steven, Amethyst, Garnet, and Pearl in jeopardy for being here, and he knew this, but he continued to stick around, tempting fate every second he stayed near them. He needed to leave, he knew that for sure, but could he? After finally meeting up with one of his long lost friend, a friend that, shockingly enough, he's beginning to feel something for. Yes, it started in slow, almost nonexistent, but he could feel the deeper feelings start to override his simple "buddy" mentality towards her. Could he leave these feels behind and undefined? " _I should have left earlier when I had the chance,"_ he thought, his eyes transfixed on the fireworks display. " _It would have been easier."_

As Naruto sat there, watching the fireworks crackle in the night sky, Amethyst's gaze was placed somewhere far more different. She looked at his face, illuminated by the warm bursts of colors and couldn't help but smile. She didn't care if they were sitting in silence, as long as she could be around him, she was content. She then noticed his hand, it was between them, unprotected and undefended - well, she should probably fix that, shouldn't she? She slowly slid closer, closing the comfortable gap the two created and slowly but very carefully slipped her hand over his.

Naruto slowly slipped from his daze and noticed the hand of his small blue friend gripping his, bringing a smile to his lips, "Amethyst," He said, catching her attention.

"Y-Yeah?" She asked, still defiantly gripping his hand even though her face has now glowing red.

"What would you say is your favorite thing on this planet?" Naruto asked, turning his attention back to the clash of colorful sparks as he took her subtle hint and gripped her hand as well, almost as tightly as she held his.

"I don't know, maybe their food or their people, they're always so different. I've never seen anything like it." She answered plainly as a slight smile played on her lips, glad at Naruto's reaction. "Why do you want to know?"

"...I've never known much about this world. Before we were separated, all I knew was their moon was beautiful, that dirt was not food, and that you were the greatest inhabitant of this planet I'd ever met - bar none." "And now, after spending 5 years and 5 months back on my true homeworld, I've realized that none of that has changed. I am glad we could finally be together again, Amethyst-chan I wouldn't want it any other way."

Her blush grew viciously, "...w-where did that come from? I-I-I mean, it's not that I'm not flattered or that I don't feel the same way but-" she sputtered, only for Naruto to answer her question rather abruptly.

"It's nothing, I've just been wanting to say that for quite some time and seeing as we finally had some "alone, alone" time together, I thought it might be the best time to say it." He smiled, chuckling at how Amethyst puffed her cheeks in mock annoyance

" _Prick, he probably won't let me live that down will he!?...but, we are alone...maybe this would be the right time…"_ Her annoyed thoughts soon turned into nervous ones as she used her free hand up to play with a loose strand of hair. "O-Obsidian?"

"Yeah?" He answered as he turned to her, giving her his undivided attention.

"C-Could you answer something for me, and I want you to be honest with me! I don't want any of that lying to spare my feelings bull." She said, beginning with a rather sweet tone to her voice only for it to switch mid-sentence to one that Naruto is all too familiar with.

He laughed, "of course Amethyst, cross my heart hope to die."

She released his hand before she began to twiddle her thumbs, "...D-D-Do you…..ya know, maybe, possibly….l-like me?"

"What type of question is that?" He asked, curious as to the reasoning behind such a simple question. "Of course I do! You were the only thing that kept me going in my darkest times those 5 years I laid in wait in Kindergarten. I don't know how, but I wanted to see your face again, no matter how impossible it would be for you to come back to that dreadful place."

Though the answer was rather flattering, she wasn't all too happy about how he took the question. "Umm, that's not really what I meant."

"Oh, then what did you mean?" He asked, growing more and more confused as the conversation continued.

"Okay, this is harder than I thought." She sighed,

Naruto's eyes focused in on the conflicted look on Amethyst's face, concerned about what could have possibly caused it. "Is everything alright, Amethyst? You're not acting like yourself."

"I-I can't help it, it's because of you-" She began,

"Wait, what? Have I done something to upset you?" He asked, afraid that some form of action might have caused the gem of his dreams some kind of problem.

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant, i-it's just - God, why is this so hard?! It's just three simple words!" Hissed Amethyst, practically grinding her teeth in frustration. How could she be this bad at this? She's been given the perfect place and the perfect time on a silver platter but she keeps sticking her foot in her freaking mouth.

"Three simple words?" This was it, in her frustration she said something that will force her to come clean about her feelings.

It was her final opportunity to finally say how she really feels. So, with this in mind, she turned towards Obsidian and with a pounding heart and shaking hands, she said, "I-I-I love-!"

"Watch out!" As Amethyst tried to pour her heart and soul out to her friend, she was blind to the swiftly approaching projectile hidden behind the colorful explosions and sounds. Naruto pushed her out of the way, being missed by an inch by a massive spherical orb that came crashing down mere feet from them. The impact the orb create sent Naruto flying off the mountain top, landing him smack dab on the beach and away from the steaming orb that had just landed from a long travel from an unknown origin.

"Obsidian!" Amethyst called down but heard no response. "Obsidi-"

" **Reconocen Robonoid; Active."**

"What the hell, you're one of those robot things we keep finding….but much freaking bigger," he said, noticing the similarities between the two creatures. Soon, the creature began to move, springing forth it's four suspended legs so it can fully pull itself from its creator. "Well, I don't care how big you are, you're gonna get it for ruining my moment!" She lassos the robonoid's leg, keeping it in place or, at least, that was the plan, seeing as it didn't seem to faze the creature as it began to try and walk the opposite direction, slowly dragging the smaller gem with it. This was the exact moment Pearl and Garnet arrived, Pearl viciously trying to escape Garnet's grip on her. Apparently, before Pearl could arrive to ruin the two gem's precious moment, Garnet had arrived, prepared to drag her back to the fireworks display where they belonged, by force if necessary.

"What is that thing?" Pearl howled, seeing the orbed creature begin its turn towards the downward slope the two gems currently preoccupied.

"It's another one of those robots, I thought we had gotten rid of them!" Garnet hissed, her weapons snapping to reality as both she and Pearl jump into the fray.

"I knew we shouldn't leave those two alone together!" Pearl pegged the creature with her spear, only for it to continue it's set path without delay, leaving her dangling to the creature, gripping her spear for leverage. "Where's Obsidian?" She asked, noticing his absence.

"He fell off the side, I think he's hurt!" Amethyst barked, still trying her damnedest to keep the mindless machine in place.

"Let's get rid of it." Garnet declared, activating her gauntlets and cracking the creature square in the center of the orb's clear face, sending a spider web of cracks through the creature before it explodes in a heap of white, thick liquid. "What was that thing doing here?"

"The thing came out of freaking nowhere, came crashing through during the fireworks finale. It called itself something when it landed, I think it's called a "Reconocen Robonoid", whatever that means." Amethyst explained, dispelling her weapon with a quick flash of lights.

"It must be searching for something, but what?" Pearl wondered, dusting off the odd goo it carried within itself.

"It doesn't matter, it won't find whatever it was looking for anymore," Garnet said curtly, "now, let's go check up on Obsidian. Hopefully, he didn't crack his gem again,"

With that, the group of gems heads down the slope to check on the conditions of one Obsidian. As they made their trip down the mountain range, Pearl couldn't help her own curiosity, and asked "...So, what were you two talking about?"

Amethyst's face quickly turned scarlet, "N-Nothing, don't worry about it!" She snapped, "It was nothing important, and also none of your business!"

"I was just wondering, no need to get defensive…. but, if it was nothing "important", why did you two need to have some alone time? Hmmm?" Pearl wondered,

"Will you just drop it? Why do you care anyway?" Amethyst asked,

"Just curious is all." Pearl hummed,

"Well, be curious all you want - what I and Obsidian do in our alone time stays with us, got it?" She questioned though Pearl knew it was more of a demand.

"*sigh* Alright, fine. I'll leave it alone...for now." Pearl answered though her words weren't very convincing.

"You can ask me today, tomorrow, or three years from now - you'll still get the same answer," Amethyst answered curtly before another gem decided to speak up once they arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

"Amethyst," Garnet stated, catching the short gem's attention.

"Yeah?" She asked,

"You said he fell off the top, right?" Amethyst nodded, "Well, where exactly did he go?" As Garnet said, the supposed spot of Obsidian's landing was empty, only a massive creator and an imprint of the gem's body was left.

"I saw him fall right here, I swear!" Amethyst declared, looking around the area frantically. She took her eyes off him for a minute and he suddenly disappeared, how is this possible?

"Well, he definitely left a mark," Pearl stated, pointing to the divit the gem left on impact. "But, other than that, it doesn't seem like he left a trace. No footprints or anything pointing in a direction, it's like he just up and vanished."

"Maybe that Robonoid was a decoy. He might have been captured right under our noses." Garnet deduced though Pearl didn't seem all that convinced by her hasty proclamation.

"Or maybe he found the Robonoid's appearance to be a distraction, giving him a chance to escape," Pearl explained her own theory, noticing a leer from her long-standing friend.

"Don't say that! Obsidian would never try to run because he doesn't need to - Garnet's right, he's probably been taken by someone who used that flying marble as a distraction and we're just sitting around doing nothing! We need to fan out, look for him. Come on, let's go!" Amethyst's frantic state didn't really leave much room for debate. Without warning she was off, rushing towards any direction she believed would lead her to her missing gem.

Pearl watched as her small gem comrade headed off towards an unknown destination, a clear look of worry on her features. She turned to Garnet, "...Garnet, do you really believe he was-"

"Let's move, Pearl. We need to find him." Garnet said abruptly, a surprising amount determination in her tone as she took off as well, heading in another direction.

Pearl sighed, slowly trailing the retreating forms of her teammates. " _Am I the only one who's being realistic here?"_

 **-Unknown Location-**

Naruto stood, gasping for breath as he holds his head in his hands as he stares at the ground, trying to compose himself from what he saw. He knew it, he knew this would happen. Jasper would never leave him be, she would never let his live a life without her - and now, she's enlisted the help of Peridot's Robonoids to help hunt him down. He's put the crystal gems in danger, but more importantly, he's put Amethyst in harm's way because he was too blinded by his feelings for her to see what was right in front of him. If those Robonoids find even a hint of his presence on this planet, they will transfer the data back to Peridot so quickly that there will be no hope for this planet and the people who inhabit it. Nothing will stand in Jasper's way, nothing. He needed to cut his ties, now. He used the Robonoids unplanned entrance to cover up his escape. Now, he must eradicate the only thing left of his existence on this planet, his ship.

" _I'm sorry Amethyst, Steven, Garnet and Pearl. I started to think the longer I stayed with your group…that maybe my suspicions were misplaced, that maybe...maybe Jasper had forgotten about me. I was wrong, and now I might have dragged you and your planet into my squabbles. I'll write those wrongs very soon. I'll miss you, Amethyst. I hope we can meet again under some different circumstances."_

 ** _Thank you all for your patients, I know the people that enjoy this story have been waiting for quite some time and I wish I had more happy news for the fans of this story, but I still have to say my updates of this story and all of my other stories will still be patchy and sporadic. I know this is annoying, I hate it too, but I am glad many of you are still here enjoying my stories. You guys are the people that have made me want to come back, thank you._**

 ** _Please Review and PM if you have any questions._**


	9. Naruto's Disappearance:Robonoid's Invade

**Chapter 6**

 **Naruto's Disappearance: Robonoid Invade!**

 **I own Nothing**

"Caaaan I look yet?" Steven asked, his hand covering his eyes.

"...Mmmmm, okay!" Connie said chipperly, presenting a book before Steven's covered eyes with gusto.

He quickly removed his self-made blindfold and looked at the novel placed before him. His eyes sparkled and he proclaimed, "BOOK!" cheerfully as he grabbed it, examining it carefully, "wow, cool cover." He said, reading the title - "The Unfamiliar Familiar".

"It's my favorite series!" She proclaimed loudly, gitty at the mere mention of her beloved series. "It's about this girl named Lisa and she's a witch, I mean, she doesn't _know_ she's a witch at first, and she has a familiar. Which is sorta like this spirit companion that everyone in the world has, but her's is a talking falcon named Arcomicurus! She goes on this quest to find her father, who was kidnapped by a mysterious, one - eyed man."

Steven sat there, intently listening like a good friend would. "Wow, mystery." He said, in awe at both Connie's devotion to this story and the description he was given about the book.

"Here, let me get you started!" She said, taking the book from the young gem and opening it to Chapter 1. She flipped her hair, adding a dramatic flair to her tone, "chapter 1, The Morning Thief. Lisa awoke with a start, the echoes of her dream still dancing in her mind." She began, leading Steven to get more comfortable on the sand - he layed on his belly with his chin tucked on his two propped up hands, allowing her to continue. "The low thunder murmured through the quiet house." However, as if on cue, Connie's story was quelled by a sudden rumble, a rumble that was oddly reminiscent to what arrived the day that Obsidian disappeared. It was another Reconocen Robonoid, ripping through the atmosphere with reckless abandon.

"*inhale* Wow, this is a really good book!" Steven said, oblivious to what is to come.

"Ummm, oh alright. The house was deathly still. The only thing Lisa could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled until suddenly-!" Her words were silenced when a massive orb crash landed into the ocean not 10 feet from them. They looked on, startled but at the same time curious.

"What the?" Steven asked, soon being showered by the excess water displaced by the creature's unwelcomed entrance.

Quickly, the Crystal Gems exited their home, each brandishing their weapon of choice. "What was that?" Amethyst questioned, only to be answered almost instantaneously as the being slowly rolled out from the ocean floor and presented itself to everyone. The Robonoid quickly activated it's legs - allowing it to stand in the sand. Seeing that shimmering orb once again sent a fire burning through Amethyst's core. She jumped from the balcony with a primal scream - "YOU FREAK, WHERE DID YOU TAKE OBSIDIAN!?" She landed harshly on it's surface, toppling its center of gravity and sending it to the ground, it's legs splayed outward.

"I-It's one of the marble robots," Steven said nervously.

"What?" Connie questioned.

Quickly, the orb began to spin under Amethyst's body, flinging her off with it's tork alone. Once the creature was removed from the orb's chassis, it began it's trek towards what appeared to be Steven and Connie's location. It's travel soon halted when Garnet jumped into action, blocking the creatures advancement with her gauntlets. "Amethyst, Pearl!" Without warning the two jumped high into the air, only to come down with tremendous speed on top of the stumbling Robonoid, imploding the creature with their strength alone.

Steven deactivated his bubble shield that protected he and Connie from the aftershock of their attack. "Are you okay," He asked Connie, who seemed star-struck at the display of teamwork and power the gems showed today.

"I love hanging out at your place," she said, practically speechless from what she just saw.

"Pearl," Steven called out, taking his possession next to his tall guardian, "do you think this was-,"

"One of Peridot's machines? Yes, I think so - only, they keep returning as these hulking monstrosities. Completely different from her original machines, why is that?" She wondered, stroke her chin in thought. Only after Naruto's disappearance did they begin to send out these larger probs machines, and yet if what Garnet and Amethyst believe happened is true, that Naruto was captured, why are they still sending robanoids down from the sky? There must be something else they are looking for, but what?

"I don't care how big they are, I'll destroy a million of them until I get the one that could have taken Obsidian!" Amethyst mumbled heatedly, flicking off the white substance that drenched her after their battle.

"Peridot? Is that the Gem you told me about?" Connie asked, looking over the damage caused by the impact of the machine - it's creator still steaming from its entry.

"Yeah, we stopped her before but I guess she can still shoot stuff down from space." Steven answered, though, not very confident in his statement.

"And Amethyst, what does she mean by "finding Obsidian", what happened to him." Connie wondered,

Steven visibly stiffened at her question, "well, a week ago, one of those Robonoids attacked the Gems during the fireworks display. Obsidian was thrown from the side of the mountain top up there," he said, pointing out the top of his cliff side where the monument rested. "After the Gems destroyed the marble robot, they went to go see if he was okay...but their was no trace of him anywhere. It's like he up and vanished without a trace."

"And the Gems think he was kidnapped by one of these Robonoids while the first one acted as a distraction?" Connie speculated, putting two and two together.

"Amethyst does, Pearl still believes he just ran away. I don't even know what Garnet thinks," Steven answered, his gaze now aimed towards Garnet who is serveying the damage as well, knocking through the rubble the robonoid left behind.

"What do you think happened?" She wondered,

"Naruto wouldn't run away, I know he wouldn't. He promised me...something, something very important - why would he do something like that if he was just going to run away that same day?" He asked, though a part of him really wished for an answer. Was he right or wrong? Did Naruto infact leave them behind or was he stolen from them by these robanoids , everything seemed so confusing too him but he just wanted to believe, believe that Naruto wouldn't just leave them behind - so he did.

"What did he promise you?" Inquired Connie, surprised at how passionate Steven was about Naruto's disappearance.

"...Let's talk about this when the Gems aren't around. It's a surprise!" He said with a smirk, before he made his way to Garnet, leaving Connie with more questions than answers. "So, what do you think they were here to do?" He asked as he noticed Garnet rummaging through the wrecked robot.

She stood, discarding a piece of rubble she held in her fist, "we destroyed it, that's all that matters." Though Garnet tried to keep face, Steven, even with his lack of understanding at times, could tell something was wrong with not just Garnet, but with each Crystal Gem. Pearl seemed to be growing more anxious about these Robanoids from the sky, along with Garnet, and Amethyst - who doesn't really seem the same after Naruto left. She hasn't eaten, slept, or really joked with anyone since his disappearance - except for the few times she wanted to keep Steven from seeing her sad or upset, but even Steven could see it was merely a mask to cover up her true feelings.

Maybe Amethyst was hurt not just because of Obsidian's disappearance, but maybe Pearl's words of wisdom could possibly ring with some truth. Every Robonoid they've faced leaves them with nothing more than what they started with, questions and a missing Obsidian. Maybe he did leave them on purpose….maybe-

"Steven?" Connie called out, catching Steven out of his dazed state.

"Hmmm? Oh, hey Connie, what's up?" He asked, as the doubt he held slowly slips into the back of his mind.

"You were zoned out on us for quite some time." It seemed like only he and Connie was left on the beach. "Is...everything alright?"

"...No, I don't think so," Steven sighed, looking over his shoulder towards his home. "After those Robinoids started to show up and Naruto disappeared...they don't seem to be like themselves anymore."

She saw how much this change in the Crystal Gems caused him grief, so she tried to comfort him with a hand firmly placed on his shoulder. "I-It's okay, Steven. Once they find out why those things are coming to earth and find the one that took Naruto everything will go back to normal, I'm sure of it."

Steven looked to her, "you think so?"

"I know so," she stated firmly, before something came to mind, something that hopefully could distract Steven from his worries. "...So, since we're alone, do you think you can tell me what Naruto promised you?"

He inhaled with excitement, remembering the important promise his friend gave him. "Oh yeah, before Naruto's disappearance, he told me he was going to train me!" He said loudly, but trying to contain it within a whisper so the crystal gems couldn't hear his joyful proclamation. "I've waited to learn how to use my gem powers to their fullest for forever, and now I'll finally be able to help and contribute to the group."

"That's amazing Steven, I can't believe the other's would let him train you!" Connie cheered in excitement only to see Steven's features turn from it's usual cheeky grin to an anxious smirk.

"...Haha, well, that's kinda why I didn't want to tell you around the Gems." He chuckled nervously, his hand slipping through his hair. "They don't know that me and Naruto are going to be training together. We were going to train at night so they wouldn't suspect a thing."

"Do you think that's wise? Pearl's already really nervous about anyone being near Naruto, I don't think she'd be too happy knowing that he's training you under her nose." Wondered Connie, a bit nervous about this supposed promise. She has nothing against Naruto, in fact, the times she's been around him have been very enjoyable, but setting up a secret meeting point and using the cover of night to get away with something just didn't seem on the up and up.

"...Well, what they don't know won't hurt them, right? Besides, I'm doing this for them. I want to be strong enough to help them, and to protect the people that mean everything to me, like you, dad, and all of Beach City and I can't do that by just sitting around hoping and praying." Steven announced proudly.

Connie sighed, "I understand and believe me, I'm all for it. I know how much this means to you, you've been waiting to do something like this for a long time...I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Don't worry, Naruto wouldn't do anything that he doesn't think I couldn't handle." He said

"It's not just that, don't you think maybe pushing yourself too hard when your gem isn't ready is kind of a bad thing?" She wondered.

"But it _is_ ready, I can feel it." He said confidently, laying his hand over his rose quartz, a light pink glow escaping under his shirt. "I've used my Rose Shield twice now. Sure, I wasn't controlling it, but still - it shows that my weapon is ready to be used, I just need to bring it out."

Connie looked at her friend and smiled, his confident words resenating wihtin her. "...You're right Steven, I guess I'm just overthinking things again. I know you'll do great when you start your training."

"Thanks, Connie, I don't know what I would do without you." He said, turning swiftly to catch the girl in a warm, encompassing hug that brought a blush to her cheeks.

"N-No problem," She mumbled, dazed by his sudden show of affection. She slowly came into the hug, "I'll always be there for you Steven, always."

"Connie!" Pearl called out from the porch.

"Yes, Pearl?" Connie asked,

"Your mother just called, she wants you back home as soon as possible. She said something about dinner plans or something to that effect." Said Pearl, leaning against the railing.

"Oh man, I totally forgot!" She said, releasing the hug that Steven clearly wasn't prepared to leave. "We have dinner plans with my whole family, they only come around 4 times a year. Sorry steven, but I gotta go."

"Oh okay, see ya later Connie!" Steven said, waving her off as he watched her leave. As we went to go inside, he noticed the stake of books laying in the sand, "Wait, Connie." He called out, quickly collecting them before rushing off to stop Connie.

"Yeah, Steven?" Connie asked,

"You forgot your books," Steven said, presenting them to her with outstretched arms.

"No, I want you to have them, for now at least." Connie said, lightly pushing the books back towards Steven. "I want you to love the Unfamiliar Familiar just like I do. Call me up if you have any questions about the story, okay?"

 **\- Two Days Later -**

"Connie, the Steven Universe boy would like to speak with you." Dr. Maheswaran called out to her daughter from the kitchen. "I swear that is not his real name," she mumbled to herself as her daughter bolted down the stairs, delighted to hear that her best friend has called.

She quickly takes the phone from her mother's hand, a smile etched in her features - "Hey Steven, what's up?" She asked, "Have you read anymore Unfamiliar Familiar?"

"Yeah, but I'm-" Steven tried to answer but he was cut off by a squeal from his friend.

"*Squeal* Isn't it amazing?! How far did you get?" She asked, excited to hear all his enjoyment of her favorite book series. She's never really had anyone around her who was interested in the things she was, so having Steven enjoy the books was very important to her, then they stay up all night talking about the characters, the subtle details placed in the books, and the terrible ending - it sounds like so much fun to her!

"I'm in the middle of one of them, but I'm really confused. They keep talking about this Plinkmen guy who died, am I supposed to know who he is?" He asked, only to hear a pause on the other end of the line.

Connie began to wonder why on earth Steven would be talking about Plinkmen in the first book, "Plinkmen? But that's Lisa's dad," but then it hit her, "...Steven, you're reading them in order, right?"

"There's an order?!" He gasped, "oh man, I just started with the one with the coolest cover." He said, gripping the "Destiny's End" book, which was the 4th in the Spirit Morph Saga. "Hello?" He asked, but heard nothing as Connie stood on the other end, her words failing her at the moment. "Hello? Connie, you still-" His question was cut short when a familiar sound shook his very house. "What the?"

The Gems quickly came from their respective rooms, Garnet leading the charge. "Something just entered the Atmosphere," she said, as they team headed outside to see the burning form of something in the morning sky.

"Look, up there," Amethyst said, pointing it out to everyone - a burning comet bursting through the morning sky, leaving a trail of smoke towards it's intended trajectory.

"It's another one of those things," Pearl added, watching as comes to a steaming halt over the horizon line of the ocean.

"It landed on Moss Island, let's move," Garnet ordered as the crystal gems stood on the warp pad, quickly ascending towards their target.

"Connie, I'm gonna have to call you back!" He said, tailing the gems as quickly as he could.

 **\- Moss Island -**

They travel quickly to the landing zone where they were quickly met by their target as his stumbled and fumbled around the area, almost as if it was trying to find something. "...Is it looking for a warp?" Pearl wondered, looking to the warp pad under their feet.

"We have to stop it," Garnet ordered, each member of the Crystal Gems charging the marble machine with their weapons drawn, destroying it in a show of force, as they've done with any other they've seen.

"Dang, what are these things trying to do?" Steven asked, wiping his face clean of the white substance that is housed in those machines.

"We're not...really….that sure," Pearl answered, though, not really. This the first time in quite some time that Steven wasn't the only one confused about what was happening, and weirdly enough, it seemed like the gems were more scared of it that Steven.

"It's not trying to do anything right now," Garnet said sternly as Steven looked on, seemingly more unsure about this plan of attack than he was when it started.

 **\- 1 Week Later -**

It has now been 2 full weeks since Naruto's disappearance and time has not helped the group get over his absence. Amethyst, as usual, was still searching as much as she could to find him, breaking through each marble orb and searching through the wreckage to find nothing but broken pieces and a feeling of uncertainty. Garnet was growing far more nervous about these roaming creatures each time she destroyed one, was this what they must do from now on, constantly destroy these things in a never ending cycle? Was it really worth it? And even Naruto's continued allusiveness was affecting her, well, more Ruby than herself, but she would have to admit that even she felt a bit saddened at his absence. Pearl wasn't really all that affected by his disappearance, not surprisingly, but she was growing ever tired of these constant attacks, it felt never ending - like a terrible dream you could never wake from.

"So, you've read the first three books in order, do you like them?" Connie asked, hopping from the counter.

"Yeah, they're awesome!" Steven said, "I really love Lisa's familiar, he's my favorite. I am confused about one thing, though,"

"What's that?" She wondered,

"...What _is_ a familiar?" He asked tentatively,

"Nooooooo," she sighed, deflating at Steven's question. Another burst of force cut the two's conversation short. "Was that another one of those marble things?"

The crystal gems ran from their rooms, exhaustion clearly visible on their face. "Yeah," Steven answered.

Amethyst snarled, "what is with these things? This is the 5th one this week? Why do they keep coming back?!"

"Well find it in the desert," Garnet said, using her future vision to lock down a location.

Steven fumbled from the couch, ready to head off with the Gems. "Connie, I gotta go, I'll talk to you later, bye!" He said, throwing his phone on the couch, "wait you guys, wait for me," but he was too slow as the gems teleported away, leaving Steven to follow.

 **\- The desert -**

Steven arrives on the scene to an unusual sight. Pearl was perched on the top of the orb, bashing it with the tail end of her spear, Garnet, who stood in front, was pushing against the marble machine with her gauntlets, keeping it locked in place; and Amethyst, who stood behind it, had wrapped the orb in her whip and began pulling it backwards, helping Garnet lock the autonomous mineral orb in place. All in all, this scene was a far cry from the Crystal gems a week ago who had the energy and the drive to destroy these things on sight.

"Stop. Coming. Here. You. Stupid. Balls!" Pearl yelled, bashing the orb with rather weak strikes from her spear.

"I'll crush every last one of you stupid things!" Amethyst hissed through gritted teeth, but her threat was rather weak considering her pulls were doing nothing to the orb other than keeping it slightly in place.

"Guys, guys, guys! Stop!" Steven yelled, thrashing his arms around to get their attention, which seemed to have worked. "How many more of these are you gonna have to fight?"

"We don't know!" Pearl said, practically exhausted. "They just keep coming and coming and we have no idea what they are or what they want, we don't know anything."

"...That's okay, I don't know anything all the time. It's like, my whole life." Steven said with a chuckle, "but I've got you guys to tell me about gem stuff, I got Connie who can tell me what familiars are, and dad tells me weird dad stuff."

"But nobody knows what these things are here to do," Pearl stated defeatedly, unsure of what to do or what has to be done.

Steven looked at the machine, "wellllll, it probably does." He pointed towards it as he watched it fumble and squirm, trying to find away around the gems and head towards it's desired location.

"...What?" Pearl questioned as she and the gems stopped their assault to listen to what Steven had next to say.

"We can follow it and see where it goes." He said knowingly as the orb began too fidget under the gems. "If we're lucky, it could probably take us to Naruto, too. It's a win-win situation!"

Amethyst's grip on the orb began to loosen at the prospect of what Steven said being true. "...Steven's right, this is the only lead we might have."

" Are you two nuts?! Who knows what could go wrong!" Pearl barked, bashing the end of her staff impatiently against it few more times, ultimately doing nothing against its hard outer casing.

"We can't fight these things forever. Well, we can but I don't want to." Garnet sighed, letting go of the orb-like machine - allowing it to catch its barings. "Let's do it Steven's way."

"Yeah, Follow the funky flow~" He sang, they quickly mounted the orbed creature and allowed the marble machine to follow it's own path towards an uncurtain destination.

 **\- Unknown Location -**

"This must be the place," Naruto said as he peered across the plain full of tall, thick grass, but the grass could not hide the distinct golden design of his personal, single manned Starship. "It's been 5 years, and it still looks like it's brand new. I've got to hand it to the homeworld gems, they know how to make a ship that lasts." He manifests his weapon of choice and begins to reap through the grass as if he was a farmer going through bushels and bushels of grain until he reaches the entrance of his Starship. He was never one to need a massive ship, one big enough for him and a Hyperdrive was all he desired in a ship - which lead to his ship being designed after something small, fast, and gone in a blink of an eye, a Shooting Star. It was pointed at the tip and spreads out to the 8 spikes that held the thrusters for his ship, giving it the look and feel of what a sparkling comet looks like in the night sky. It's defenses were simple, it was more likely for him to outmaneuver his opponents than to tank their fire with shields and deflectors. His offenses was just the same, he had the standard cannons a registered Starship under the Homeworld's guidelines were given, but mostly he really didn't have that many, except for one that he truly enjoyed, a EMP Burst, it was so powerful that it could wipe out an inter platoon with a single usage, and it's quickly recharge time meant he was practically untouchable. That is, until he tried to escape the homeworld's planetary defenses. They damaged his ship beyond repair, it only had enough strength to bring him to earth before it's power supply shut down for the last time.

"You've gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations, Comet. I don't know what I would have done without you." He said kindly, dusting off one of it's many exterior thrusters. He quickly placed his hand on the outer hull of his ship as it shifted like clay to reveal it's opening, allowing him to step in and observe its interior. It had enough room for the main chair, it's control panel which was expansive to help him maneuver through tight situations, and a 6 foot by 4 foot empty space that he could possibly store a small amount of extra cargo, maybe another gem if need be. This small space also held some storage cabinets which used to hold his extra weaponry such as the shock baton - Jasper always insisted him bring it, but he would always seem to "lose" it. He never believed in using such a thing, it was crude and not a very effective method to get people on your platoon to trust you.

He walked over and took his rightful place in his ship's chair, the captain's chair, captain of one. He always loved this ship, he spent more time on this ship than he did on the Homeworld planet - there were days where he would take Comet out into space, cut the engines and just float to clear his head. He looked out the main window, envisioning the wide expanse of space in place of the tall grass and tree line that he was looking at now. "Hmm?" He said absent mindedly, noticing a small light blinking on the dashboard, it's glow almost none existent thanks to the buildup of dust. He wiped the button clean and under it read "Auxiliary power restore" plain as day in the language of the gems.

"Auxiliary power?" He wondered, pressing the button to activate it's stored away power - activating the amenities of the ship. The control board lit up along with the internal lights and systems, allowing him full access to anything and everything his on-board computer has to offer.

" **Auxiliary Power: 5 Minutes Remaining"** The on-board computer announced, giving Naruto a little startle. "Damn, I forgot about that." He said, before he quickly pulled up the holographic data pad his ship came with. He thought quickly and decided it would be best to go see if his access to the global homeworld data base was still their but stop abruptly. " _If my access has been revoked, it will send a message to homeworld once I enter my non-valid code, they'll know I'm here."_ He thought, his fingers hovering over his keyboard. If he did this it and it worked it could give him valuable information that's been passed around through the intricate web from every gem from the homeworld, platoon stations, warp pad usage, inhabited planets, even Peridot and Jasper's locations at this very moment. However, if this doesn't work, which their is a 95% chance it might not, he'd be putting every single human, animal, and gem on planet earth in danger just on a mere guess.

 _I can't run that risk."_ Reluctantly, he slowly removed himself from the data pad, allowing it to fade out from existence. " **Auxiliary Power: 4 Minutes Remaining"** The computer said as Naruto sat in his chair, dejected from his previous idea. He looked out the window once again, hoping that the calming sway of the tall grass in the breeze might sooth his mind, but he wasn't so fortunate. Before him, covering up his view of nature, was Jasper's face, her gem nose glowing with what looked like excitement. Naruto was paralyzed, his eyes widened in sudden fear in seeing her beaded little eyes staring into what seemed like his very soul. " _What is this?"_ He wondered, staring at her unwavering glare and her etched in sneer, but soon, after the initial shock of seeing his captor's face appear before him, he realized that it was a mere projection, a video that was supposedly left for him.

" _Wait, I-I remember this one."_ Naruto thought, tapping a button on his control panel that began the message anew, " _this was her message to me after I arrived at my first off-world battle. I thought this was deleted with all the rest."_ As he looked through his on-board files that were saved to the hard drive of his ship, he found not one but three videos still saved to his drive, locked there by himself. " _When did I do that?...Why would I do that?"_

" **Auxiliary Power: 3 Minutes Remaining"** The computer reminded him, as he pressed play on the first video in his saved files. " **Video Playback: Active - Video 01"**

\- The screen came to life, static filling it for a brief moment before Jasper's eye took up most of the screen. Her entire face was close up to the screen she was recording this on as she looked around it frantically as the angle continued to change as if Jasper was holding it with her bare hands and carrying it around with little care for the recording machine.

" _Hello? Hello?! How the hell does this thing work? Hey, Peridot how do you work this thing? Peridot? PERIDOT?!-"_

The screen soon cuts to another scene where the camera was a respectable distance from Jasper, who at this point was sitting at what looked like a captain's chair on one of the huge fregits only the most trusted officials were offered.

" _-And now all you have to do is talk towards the optical sensor."_ The one holding the camera said, obviously Peridot who didn't sound all too happy about being pulled from her work to help a technologically inclined meathead send a video.

" _Oh right, okay. Ahem, hey big guy, how's your first mission coming along? You miss me yet?"_ She asked, smiling towards that camera and in this view of her at this moment she seemed….normal. She wasn't the aggressive beast that haunts his nightmares but a normal, everyday Jasper who seemed positively...happy to even be sending this video out to him. this was the Jasper he worked with and laughed with, a kind but sometimes aggressive companion, someone he could actually call a friend way back when, that was before Jasper couldn't accept the fact that he only liked her as a friend, that was before he turned on them, this was before….she snapped. " _I just wanted to send you this message to say...ahem, well, you know, that I can't wait for you to….come home so you can tell me all about your adventure! I know with you heading the charge, that stupid, primitive planet won't know what hit them! Yellow Diamond picked the right gem for the job, though I wished she would have sent me as well instead of making me watch over HER Peridot while she evaluates a few of our soon to be cultivated planets-"_

" _Are you saying that Yellow Diamond made a mistake assigning you as my protection? Do you wish for me to inform her of tha-"_

Jasper visibly stiffened at Peridot's supposed threat, " _Haha, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. W-What I meant was that I merely thought that it would have made the taking over of the planet Obsidian is going to a little easier, but what do I know? I'm just a Jasper….I-I don't think you have to report that to her, right?"_

" _Hmmm, seeing as you've been gracious enough to protect me while I oversee preparations for our next few planets we wish to colonize, I suppose I can look the other way."_

" _Thanks. Anyway, I'll make this video short. Just checking in, seeing how you are doing, and I can't wait to see how strong you've become after this little battle. See yeah!...Okay, is it off?-"_

Naruto couldn't help but smile at how innocent this video was, there was no awkward baggage between the two back then, no hatred or anomasate, just two people who wished each other the best and watched each others back. There are times where he wonders what would have happened if he didn't know the dark secrets of the Homeworld, would he have stayed and been by Jasper and Peridot's side? Would he help the destroy even more planets, possibly even the one he rests on right now? The universe may never know.

" **Auxiliary Power: 2 Minutes Remaining"** The computer stated, as he pressed play on the second video in his saved files. " **Video Playback: Active - Video 02"**

" _Hello Obsidian, it is I - Jasper…"_ A voice said, but unfortunately the camera was unfocused, making it difficult to make out who exactly this was, because based on the voice of the person speaking - which sounded like a child trying to deepen their voice to sound like their father - it was definitely not Jasper. " _...I have decided to contact you so I can inform you that Peridot is one of the most spectacular Gems you could ever find and, of course, why wouldn't she be, she was handpicked by Yellow Diamond!..."_ The camera shook as the person holding it couldn't help but snicker, which escalated into a full blown laugh. Slowly, the camera panned over to reveal it was Peridot holding the camera and was trying to silence her snickers. From the apparent closeness the camera was to Peridot, it would seem like she had taken off her metal limb enhancements and snuck into a small compartment or something to that effect. Whatever it was, she seemed a bit too close to the camera for comfort. " _...Hehehehe Obsidian, it's me, Peridot! Had you fooled though, didn't I? My impression of Jasper is spot on, if I do say so myself."_ She bragged in her usual snarky tone but surprisingly, Naruto actually smiled at this. This is the same gem that took it upon herself to torture him without mercy but...seeing her like this, how she used to be before his defection, it almost brought a tear to his eye.

" _Peridot! Where are you? Give me back my recording device!"_ Jasper roared from the outside of wherever Peridot decided to hide. The bulky gem's scream caused Peridot to stiffen and hide the video light with the palm of her hand, only waiting until Jasper's stomps left the area to release the camera's light. She sighed and quickly lifted the camera up to her face.

" _*sigh* She'll never find me, I've made sure of that….clod….don't tell her I said that, let's keep it a secret between one intellectual gem to another, okay?" "Now that I've taken the liberty of liberating Jasper's "camera", as she calls it, I need to inform you that, though Yellow Diamond's orders were for you to continue fighting even after your 50 cycles of deployment have expired, I would find much more enjoyment in my operation if you were assigned to be my protection than that bumbling clod. She's completely hopeless, she doesn't understand the concept of technology, it's like she doesn't even have a functioning brain! *sigh* If you were here, you would know what I'm talking about. All she cares about is fighting, it's like talking to a wall!...Anyway, I just wanted to inform you of my recent realization and...I-I hope you may finish your assignment effectively and swiftly so you could come back soon. Peridot ou-"_

" _There you are you little-"_

" **Auxiliary Power: 1 Minute Remaining"** His computer warned, but even with his computers impending shut down, he did not move, he did not flinch, he did nothing but sit there, staring at the final frame of the video - a comically frightened Peridot being pulled out of her hiding spot by an even more comically frustrated Jasper. He sat there staring at it, his features blank of any emotion, no hatred, no sadness, no pain - a blank stare that would pierce a normal gem to their very core. A stir of emotions fluttered through his body as he watched the two videos, feelings that he has not felt towards this two for quite some time. Happiness, friendship, a sense of comradery, all of this came back too him as if it never left, that's why it was all the more bitter in his mind.

However, he was soon shaken from his stare and reached under the dashboard and pressed an unseen button that opened up a square area on the top of the dashboard, revealing three hard copies of everything on his hard drive. He removed the middle one and stored it safely in his pocket. "Computer," he said, standing from his chair as he rests his hand on the leather headrest one last, "Activate Protocol 10."

" **Protocol 10 engaged - Password Verification Needed"**

"...Amethyst."

" **Password Accepted - Self-destruct in T-Minus 10 seconds."**

"Farewell Comet, I'll miss you."

" **9….8...7….6….5….4….3….2...1….goodbye"** As Naruto makes it about 10 feet away from his ship, the comet blew in a colorful extension of hellfire and bits, only to be absorbed by the same force the sent them flying in a controlled implosion set by Naruto himself. If he ever needed to self destruct in his ship, he wanted to make sure nothing would be left to discover. He looked at the crater his ship rested in for over 5 years and sighed, " _that was the last possible thing that could link me to this planet. Now, I guess I probably should just wait it out until they grow tired of sending robanoids….."_

The ground then shook with the force of another robonoid entering earth's atmosphere, crashing a yard for his current position. He stared at the crafts harsh entry into Earth's atmosphere, contemplating his choices at the moment. " _Of course, another one had to land near me."_ He said with a sigh, taking his leave of the area with quickening speed, " _I need a place to hide, someplace they'd never find me, but where?"_

 __ **Thank you all for reading, please PM me if you have any questions and please, please, please review! I'd love to know what you all think about it! Also, the next chapter might take a bit longer, just giving you all a heads up!**


	10. A Drastic Discovery: Obsidian Revealed!

**Chapter 7**

 **A Drastic Discovery: Obsidian Revealed!**

 **I own Nothing**

As we last left off, our group of gems have stowed away on top of a determined Robonoid, prepared to watch where it might lead them. However, they were all surprised that it's destination landed them back at the birthplace of thousands of gems, including Amethyst and Obsidian, Kindergarten. As the creature shuffles to its unknown location, the group grows ever weary of their surrounds and their current mission. "What does it want here?" Pearl wondered, scoping out the dimly lit caverns with a concerned tone.

Steven looked to Pearl, rather unsure as to why she seemed so on edge. "Maybe it want's to see where Amethyst and Obsidian were made." He said, hoping that it could ease hers and the group's collective nerves.

"Maybe it should mind its own business," Amethyst huffed, but even with her harsh tone and attitude, it was easy to read that even she didn't want to be here right now.

"I don't like this at all," Pearl stated, her eyes widening with every step the Robonoid took, taking them deeper and deeper into the heart of the Kindergarten.

"But-" Steven tried to reason with her on this, hoping to come up with something that could help his friends continue on with this mission, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

"I'm kinda with Pearl on this one," Amethyst voiced,

"Ah, come on, can't you guys feel his funky flow?" Steven taps the orb, feeling it's smooth exterior. "He's a funk master,"

Pearl watched Steven tap the orb as if it were his pet and found it to be less than reassuring, "...I can't believe we're doing this."

The orb stopped dead in its tracks, causing its passengers to lurch forward from the sudden stop. "Hmmm, why did you stop, little buddy?" Steven asked, but was given no response from the robot.

"Something's happening," Garnet said and, without warning, snatching up Steven as she and the Crystal gems jumped from the back of the machine just in the nick of time. Once the Crystal Gems were clear of the walking orb, it retracted its legs and zapped the floor with a green energy that opened a square-like hole, then the marble creature transformed into a pyramid type shape before burrowing through the ground, leaving a clear path to follow.

"Yessssss," Steven cheered as the group edged closer to the opening, peering down towards the descending platform. "See, I knew we'd find something cool, let's go!" And just like that, the boy jumped down after the platform, quickly followed by the crystal gems - each member unaware of what was to come or, more specifically, who was coming straight for them.

 **\- 1 mile out -**

" _Shit, shit, shit! Of course, they would lead me here!"_ Obsidian nearly screamed as he grew closer to his destination, quickly followed by the line of robinoids steadily growing closer to his position. As Naruto grew ever closer to the edge of his old home, Kindergarten, he couldn't help but think of what put him in this predicament in the first place. Once he had destroyed his beloved old ship, The Comet, he saw a robonoid touched down not too far from his location, leading him to run from his position…..only to find out that the robonoid wasn't the only one in the near vicinity. Apparently, his little disposal of his ship wasn't as stealthy as he believed, leading to the remaining robonoids to converge onto his area, leading to him being surrounded by about 4 of these orb-like creatures, all locked onto his unique signature. He went to attack, hoping to slice through these expendable playing with ease…..but something was different about these ones, far different from the first group of robonoids that came to earth.

Then, as he went to attack, he realized what made these so different than the others. The harder, more dark toned exoskeleton and the reinforced legs, the scanners redesigned to scan for gems - it wouldn't take a scientist to realize what these were. During his time with both Peridot and Jasper, he always wondered why Peridot's robonoids were merely used for reconnaissance and even gave her ideas on how she could change them without doing much drastic mechanical work.

He never thought he'd see the day that she actually took his advice to heart!

Now, as he punched the robonoid, the exoskeleton opened up, snatching up his hand before it snapped shut around his wrist, allowing the odd goo that rested within the machine to coat his hand - but something was different, instead of the synthetic substance sliding off his hand like water off a smooth stone...it began to harden around it, locking his hand in place. He struggled to break free but was unpleasantly surprised to find out that this hardened substance was _very_ sturdy, and to make matters worse, as he continued to fumble around with his recently trapped hand, The robanoids began to surround him - leaving him very few options.

With the Robanoids bearing down on him, he went for the option that he knows the best and summoned his weapon of choice before going in for a slice, but was surprised when his blade barely scratched the surface of this creature - he attacked again but was given the same results. With the remaining droids growing even closer to his position, he had few options to take, so with a harsh battle cry, he gripped his scythe tightly and went for another slice as a red aura now rose from his weapon. The blade sliced partially through the machine, enough to shut it down, giving him the opportunity to pull his arm from the gaping hole of the mechanical creature.

Now here he is, running with one hand sealed shut by the goo while the 3 of the remaining robanoids followed in hot pursuit, and all of this madness was aimed squarely towards the last place he wanted to be, Kindergarten. He had very little ground to maneuver with, every step he took drew him closer to the edge of the cliff, so, with little hesitation, he jumped; plummeting towards the tight caverns of Kindergarten. Once he reached the bottom, he tucked and rolled to a stop before he looked up, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the height of the drop would deter them from following - unfortunately, fate was not on his side today.

The orbs jumped from their position on top of the mountainside and began to spin their legs, allowing them to slowly levitate down towards the ground. He grew visibly worried at this and took off in the opposite direction, unaware of the square hole mere feet from him - so you could imagine what happened next. He plummeted down the unforeseen hole, leading him to tumble and fall to the very bottom where he landed with a heavy THUMP!

"Ow….w-when the hell did that hole get there? I don't remember a hole there, do you? No, no I don't….so why was there a hole there?" He asked himself in a daze, feeling the hefty toll the drop took on him. He slowly began to rise, his body limp as all hell, only to stop when he heard something - something he wasn't expecting to hear at the bottom of a hole.

"Obsidian!" Amethyst's voice, it was calling out to him, almost as if….she was right next to him. He looked to his side to see not just Amethyst but Pearl and Garnet, each sporting their own confused look while Amethyst looked surprised and elated to see him literally drop out of nowhere.

"Amethyst? W-What are you-"

"Wait, Obsidian!" A chill went down Naruto's spine as a familiar voice rocked him to his very core, "Y-You're here! I found you! I finally found you!"

"No…." Naruto's voice shook with fear; that voice, that _voice_! "This can't…..this can't be happening,"

"I-I can't believe it! We've finally found you after all these cycles trying to hunt you down, I've finally caught you!" With a hesitant turn, Naruto came face to face with a massive projection of none other than Peridot, a face that he wished to never see for the rest of his life.

But, something Peridot said caught his attention, "wait….w-we?"

"Jasper is going to be very pleased to know I found you," Peridot chirped with glee as she fiddled with something off screen, possibly sending a personal message to the muscular gem herself, "this is a very fortuitous day! I've finally been able to get to the inner mechanics of the Kindergarten, and now this."

"Hey, you're Peridot right?" The dire mood that was radiating within the Kindergarten HQ was put on hold as another unforeseen creature made himself known. After slipping out of the watchful eyes of his guardians, Steven made himself known before the floating hologram by the name of Peridot.

"Hmm?" Peridot hummed, taking in the image of this peculiar creature with a keen eye. "...What exactly _are_ you? Obsidian, do you know what this thing is?"

Naruto's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull when he noticed who Peridot was talking about. "Steven, what are you doing? Get out of there!" He ordered,

"But why? We're all wondering what all this stuff is, and if the other's aren't going to ask any questions, then I will." Steven defended his right to be there, unaware of how worried both Naruto and the Gems were for the naive young boy.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Steven. This isn't the time to start asking questions, this is the time to run!" Naruto was prepared to jump from his perch, but Peridot caught his attention.

"Oh no you don't," Peridot smirked as, once again, Peridot began fiddling with something neither Obsidian nor the Gems could see. "My newly improved robanoids are on their way as we speak, they'll keep you nice and immobile until we arrive on this dirt ball of a planet. Then, we'll make sure you pay for everything you did to us, you traitor!"

"Hey, what do you mean by new and improved?" Steven asked, still oblivious to what is to come.

"Steven, get out of there, she's unstable, there's no telling what she'll do!" Naruto practically yelled,

Naruto's words didn't seem to sit well with the lime-green gem. "U-Unstable?!...How dare you say something like that to me, you….you treacherous clod!" Peridot barked, her usual smug visage now replaced with untold rage that is aimed squarely towards Jasper's favorite property. Who was this traitor to call her unstable?

"Hey, that's not nice; you shouldn't talk to Naruto lik-" Steven tried to defend his blonde friend, but was silenced swiftly by Peridot's enraged voice.

"Silence you useless creature, this is none of your business!" And with that, Peridot brings down her robotic hand straight onto Steven. "Steven!" The Gems cried, prepared to rush to stop the falling hand but weren't fast enough. With a devastating crash, the hand landed square on the ground, cracking it on impact.

Peridot snickered at her handy work, "there, now that the little pest is gone, Obsidian, I think it's time w-" she began to say, but when she looked to find her target, she was shocked to see he was nowhere to be found. "...Obsidian? Where'd he go? Ah! Don't tell me I lost him again, Jasper will kill me if I have to tell her I let him slip through my fingers!" Unbenounced to Peridot, Naruto was closer to her than she thought. Throwing caution to the wind, Obsidian dove to protect his young student and plucked him out of the way from danger, saving him just in time for Peridot's robotic fist to come crashing down against the ground.

As the dust began to settle the scene started to become clearer, Naruto was seen holding onto Steven in his arms as Steven clung to him for dear life, his young life flashing before his eyes. "H-Hey, are you alright?" Obsidian whispered, hoping to keep their position a secret from the watchful eye of Peridot.

"Y-Yeah, that was….a close one," Steven answered, slightly trembling from the sheer adrenaline pumping through him.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the situation they were in, "you're telling me, if I didn't move sooner you would have been a Steven Pancake,"

"That sounds amazing and delicious!" Steven answered with a snicker of his own,

"There you are, you traitor! You had me worried for a second there!" Peridot's robotic hand reared back before delivering a harsh backhand to the treacherous gem who pulled Steven close to protect him from what was to come. However, the devastating hit didn't connect to him as planned thanks to Steven, who produced a bubble to protect both he and Obsidian from harm. The hand connected, sending the orb smashing into the adjacent wall; the bubble gave them the protection that they needed but that didn't mean the attack didn't shake the young gem a bit who quickly dispelled his protection after such a nasty hit, leaving both he and his friend open for another attack. "Arg, you're starting to aggravate me! Stop defending yourself and accept your fate!" She started for another swing, but her right robotic hand was bound in place by some quick thinking from the gems; both Amethyst and Garnet held the fist back with Amethyst's whip.

"What the?! _More_ gems? I thought all of the gems on this planet were destroyed, none of my robanoids nor the red eye have sent back any information about still active gems on this-...wait, were you the ones who have been destroying my robanoids?!" Peridot began to extrapolate as the discovery of more crystal gems began to bring up more and more questions that she needed to be answered.

"Yes, we have, along with your red eye machine!" Pearl stated sternly, almost as if she was proud for making Peridot's job much, much harder.

Peridot's face scrunched up into a harsh scowl, "ARG! Why did you destroy my things? Why must you interfere with things you don't understand! You….CLODS!"

"Because we are the crystal gems, we're still alive and still the guardians of this planet and all it's living creatures!" Pearl proclaimed with her spear in hand,

"...The crystal gems?" The Gems sprang into action, Pearl using her spear as a projectile aimed squarely at the trapped arm, hoping to penetrate it, but to no avail; the spear merely bouncing off the hand's outer casing harmlessly. Peridot quickly took the offensive, pulling harshly on her bound robotic hand, sending both Amethyst and Garnet flying into the wall both Obsidian and Steven leaned against. Garnet hopped to her feet, activated her gauntlets, and jumped back into the fray while Amethyst, who landed next to Obsidian, grabbed onto him with a shout of absolute glee.

"Obsidian, we found you!" But her glee seemed to turn sour quite fast as she clocked the poor gem across his face, "where the heck were you!? Do you know how worried I was for you? How much time and effort we put in to try to find you?"

"Amethyst, I don't think this is the right time-" Naruto began, but Amethyst wasn't having it.

Amethyst grabbed him by his clothing, bringing his face mere inches from her own. "It's the perfect time! Now, start talking, I want an explanation for all of-"

"Stop ignoring me!"

"Lookout!" Steven produces a pink sphere around them, blocking the blindsided attack from Peridot's backhand. Though the attack was blocked, it didn't stop the pink orb from bouncing around the room, before finding it's way into the awaiting group of gems of Garnet and Pearl, knocking them to the ground as well and releasing their grip over the other remaining hand.

"T-Thanks, Steven." Obsidian mumbles as he tries to catch his bearings from being used as the world's largest bouncy ball. His recovery time was short-lived, however, as Peridot once again goes on the offensive, bring her flat robotic palm down on top of the splayed out gems. Naruto was the first to react, jumping to his feet to hopefully take the brunt of the attack and keeping the others safe. He planted himself into the ground and raised his hands high, catching the attack with all of its might which sent him to one knee. Next to help was Garnet, who also added her own brand of strength to keep this mechanical hand from crushing her friends. "P-Pearl!" Naruto grunted, catching the gem's attention. "That cluster of gems in that cubby on the farthest wall, that's the power source to this room. Hit it!"

"You fools! Do you not realize that you're trying to protect nothing more than a traitor and a liar?! How long do you think he'll keep up his charade before he turns on you like he did us? We were just like you three, we trusted him, we believed in him, but then he stabbed us in the back, showing his true colors to us all!" Peridot brings her other robotic fist down on her suspended one, bring it harder downwards towards the gems. Steven and Amethyst joined Obsidian and Garnet, each gem struggling to keep the hands at bay "Well, I can't expect much critical thinking from a bunch of clods such as yourselves!"

"Pearl, any time would be nice right about now!" Amethyst moaned, her body trembling from the force these robotic hands were putting out.

"I'm trying to line up the shot, we only have one chance at this!" Pearl retorted, keeping her keen eyes on the price as she hoists up her spear.

"Well, can you please line it up faster, if this keeps up I don't think I'll be getting that growth spurt anytime soon," Steven grunted under the heavy pressure the hands were placing on him.

"Alright...now!" Pearl lobbed her spear dead set on the target at hand, piercing the cluster of gems on the other side of the room, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"W-W-What d-d-d-d-d-did you j-j-just d-do?" Peridot's hysterical yelling was rather hard to comprehend thanks to the screen that projected her was short circuiting. "Y-Y-Y-You'll r-regr-r-r-ret this, y-y-y-you Clods!" The robotic limbs Peridot controlled went limp as the screen blacked out; allowing Obsidian and Garnet to push the hands off of the group, allowing them to fall harmlessly down to the ground.

Obsidian sighed, "well, that was a little too close for comfor-" but his cheeky comment was cut short when another harsh fist collided with his ribcage. "Ouch, jeez, Amethyst, can you please use your words!"

"Start talking, right now!" Amethyst demanded, her expression leaving little room for interpretation, she was livid.

"...Look, I'm sorry, Amethyst; I never meant to put you in this position or any of you for that matter." Naruto apologized, "I should have done what I did a long time ago,"

That didn't sit well with Amethyst, "you mean abandon me? You left me behind yet again so you can do what? Make yourself a target?"

"No, to prevent this world from _becoming_ a target." Naruto fired back, "For the past two weeks I've been destroying every ounce of my presence here on this planet so those damn robonoids couldn't find anything to report back to Peridot. I had just finished getting rid of my final piece of evidence but none of that matters because now that they know I'm here nothing will prevent them from coming here and reeking havoc."

Before their back and forth could continue, Garnet stepped in to divulge something that seemed to be overlooked by the both of them. "Regardless, we believe that they would have found their way here either way."

"What do you mean?" Questioned Naruto,

"We followed one of the robonoids to this place, while we scooped out the situation we heard Peridot speaking about 'resetting the Kindergarten'." Garnet began to explain, catching Naruto by surprise. "I think they were planning on coming where with or without knowing you were here."

"...Of course they'd come here as well, how could I be so blind?" Naruto moaned, annoyed with how single-minded he'd been thinking this whole time. "Yellow Diamond wouldn't have allowed them to come here solely to find me, that'd be a waste of resources. She must need this Kindergarten operational, she's losing more loyal subjects, more soldiers to fight against the rebellion."

"What's a Yellow Diamond?" Steven wondered,

"Yellow Diamond is a Homeworld Gem and a member of the Great Diamond Authority that rules over the Gem race." Naruto began to explain, his visage visibly shifting as he talked about this mysterious new gem. "She's cold and ruthless, finding the life of other creatures and their planets meaningless unless they could give her useable resources, but worst of all, she's ruthlessly efficient. The only reason I stand here today instead of being crushed into a thousand shards is because Peridot and Jasper argued a case against me being destroyed, they told Yellow Diamond I was a far more valuable alive than dead."

"She sounds...terrible," Steven shivered at such a cold individual,

Naruto nodded at Steven's quick assessment, "she was one of the many reasons I saw the errors of my way,"

A rumble shook the underground chasm they stood in, "Ummm, what was that?"

"Her robanoids are here to try and finish the job," Obsidian announced as he looked to the opening, prepared for their arrival. "We need to be ready for a battle,"

"When _you_ left us behind, _we_ cleaned house with these things. This will be a piece of cake," Amethyst fired back, still rather heated on the subject of Obsidian's departure.

"These aren't the same ones that you've fought, they're new and improved." Naruto retorted, "they have harder exterior shells and their lubricant inside themselves can harden around anything, immobilizing you in seconds."

The room went silent as this new piece of information, "well….that does sound to be a bit….different. So, what do you suggest our plan of attack should be?" Pearl asked,

Naruto remained silent, his face contorting in thought as the gems wait for his rational and helpful response. "...Ummm, give me a minute,"

"We don't have a minute!" Amethyst replied as the rumbling of the rolling Robanoids grow ever louder as they make their way down the pipeline.

"Well, let's make one cause I don't have a plan." He retorted, closing his eyes tight so he could close himself off from the world just to give himself a few more seconds of peace and thought. "I guess just hit them hard and don't get any of that stuff on you."

"Great plan, Obsidian, just one and a million." Pearl sighed before she spotted Steven taking up rank right next to her, prepared to fight alongside his fellow gems the best he can. "Steven, go find a place to hide and don't let them catch you. We'll handle things from here."

"I can help, I'll play defense," Steven said proudly, ready to do as much as he could to keep them safe. Pearl wasn't too sure about this, he wasn't ready yet to face something like this - but she knew that he wouldn't listen to her, he's always been stubborn just like his mother; no matter how much Pearl wished to just protect Rose, she'd never let her - always putting herself in harm's way….they're too important to-

"I think Pearl's right, Steven." Surprisingly, the voice of reason was Obsidian, how knelt next to Steven with his hand resting on his shoulder, a stern yet warm smile played on his lips. "I've got this one, but don't worry, you'll have you time to shine soon enough, I promise."

"A-Alright, but be careful you guys," and with that, Steven ducked into the alcove the gems hid in not moments ago as the sound of fastly moving objects echoed down the tunnel and without a seconds delay, three dark gray orbs took their place in the Kindergarten HQ. As their predecessors, the legs of these creatures slide from their body and hover to their side, allowing them to stand up proudly towards the gems, who at this point, have produced their own weapons, prepared for battle.

"Crystal Gems, attack," and with that, the group fired off into a heated confrontation with the Gems charging forward towards their enemies while the robanoids rushed onwards, picking up tremendous speed in doing so. The crystal group was forced to dodge quickly to one side or the other to prevent the orbs from running them down outright. Amethyst was the first to her feet and she quickly went on the offensive, soon followed by Obsidian who wished to watch his friend's back. Without a single wasted motion, Amethyst tucked in her legs and began to spin - mimicking the mode of transportation the orbs were taking at the time - and spun towards her target, cracking against a Robonoid's outer shell with a rather disturbing crunch.

The orb unscathed, Amethyst abandoned her first plan of attack, rubbing her skull where a sizable knot began to grow, "Jeez," she began, hissing at her own touch. "You weren't kidding, these things are _hard_ , I guess using my head wasn't my best idea."

"I'm thinking using any part of your body wouldn't be a sound idea," He produced his hand as evidence, the hardened lubricant from earlier still holding strong, "if you had actually done some damage to its outer layer, your head would have been stuck to it. I think, for now, we should stick with our weapons,"

"Great idea," Amethyst smirked, producing two of her whips before she started to spin in place like a top, slowly building up speed until she was practically like a mini-purple hurricane. "I've been dying to do this!" She proclaimed before she took off towards her target, unleashing her hail of whip cracks against its outer shell, leaving nothing but scraps. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed before the orb decided to take on its own version of offense. As the lilac gem went into for another strike, the orb's surface opened up, prepared to swoop up Amethyst thanks to her own produced momentum. Thankfully, Obsidian noticed it before it was too late and tackled her out of harm's way.

"Wait, it can open itself up too? Why didn't you tell us that little piece of information?" Amethyst questioned, bewildered and annoyed at this new development. If it weren't for Obsidian, she'd be trapped in that blasted thing for who knows how long; she was grateful for what he did but she wasn't prepared to show it.

"It slipped my mind, alright?" Obsidian answered rather curtly, finding her attitude at this point to be rather misplaced. He knew what he did was wrong, and Amethyst had every right to be mad at him, but now was not the time to do so. "Look, right now we need to focus. I don't think your whips are gonna do much damage to its outer shell,"

"Well, right now that's all I've got, so I think I'm just gonna have to rely on my number one method." She stated before pulling out another set of whips before charging headstrong at the orb. "Beat the ever lovin' crap out of it with all I've got,"

"Wait, Amethyst!" He yelled out, but it was too late, she was already assaulting the rotund automaton with reckless abandoned. Naruto sighed at this display, though, he'd be lying if he wasn't impressed by her determination. "I know I messed up but she could at least listen to me," and with that, Naruto too jumped into the fray, adding his own style of speed and strength to this two on one battle.

While the bickering duo dealt with their Robonoid, the rest of the Crystal Gems were also waging war against these machines, so more so than others. Garnet, at this point, was making the most headway against these mechanical orbs, her gauntlets and brute strength were perfect at smacking the orb around with ease, but even her edge was soon taken away by the critical thinking of these orbs. So far the orb Garnet has been taking on has done nothing more than become a glorified punching bag, getting hit before bouncing back for another round; Garnet's hits were doing absolutely nothing to the exterior of this machine. It was disheartening to see but she wasn't prepared to give up just yet; she wound back for a devastating punch, prepared to end this robonoids existence once and for all, unaware that she just played right into the robonoid's hands. Just as she swung, the robonoid opened up, snatching up her entire arm right up to her elbow before quickly solidifying the solution within; locking her left arm in place.

Garnet gritted her teeth, trying in vain to pull her arm from the sneaky little droid. Frustrated, she raised her free gauntlet high, prepared to crack this thing wide open with one well-placed shot; oh, how wrong she was. Once again, the attack ended with her hand locked within the liquid innards of this advanced automaton, and soon the remaining liquid in the machine hardened as well, making the machine nothing more than dead weight for Garnet to lift against. The robonoid landed with a heavy thud, bringing Garnet to a knee. This thing, it was incredibly dense, Garnet was surprised by its heftiness; she went to go to lift it with her immense strength but found it quite difficult….difficult, but not impossible.

"I won't…" Garnet began, pushing up with her legs as she starts to deadlift this possibly 100-ton piece of dead weight. "Let you…" She continued as, slowly but surely, the orb started to lift; Garnet's teeth gritted at the sear weight this thing contained, it could be one of the heaviest things she's ever had to lift. "Beat me!" And with one loud grunt, the orb was off, lifted high into the air by none other than the Crystal Gem's powerhouse; but the orb's air time was short lived as Garnet brought it crashing down onto the Kindergarten ground, cracking the very flooring the Gem's stood on, not to mention the tremors it sent out through the Kindergarten HQ.

However, her first assault wasn't enough, merely scraping the surface of the orb but this did not dishearten her, in fact, if pushed her to go forward. She lifted the orb again before bringing it down once again against the harsh floor, and then again, and again, and again until the ground had a hefty dent in it while the orb held a nice long crack on its surface. Garnet was growing weary, even a gem could feel the fatigue when it comes to something so strenuous, but she couldn't give up just yet, she was so close; she could see the ooze dripping from the back of the robonoid - one more, just one more. Garnet's feet dug once more into the floor where, if you looked closely, you would be able to see their indents in the flooring. With one last grunt, Garnet swung this mighty orb sideways, colliding it with an incoming robonoid, smashing the one that bounded her and cracking the one chasing both Amethyst and Obsidian; dousing the area in the odd liquidy solution. As Garnet grinned, seeing her handy work, she looked at her arms to see that she might have freed herself of the weight that robonoid bestowed on her, but she wasn't free from her prison. The solution was still solid as a rock around her arms right up to the elbow, leaving her arms immobile; she couldn't even activate her gauntlets, whatever this stuff was, it wasn't something Garnet's ever came across.

While Garnet's tactic took out one robonoid and knocked down the second one, the third one was still fully operational and hot on the tail of one gem, in particular, Pearl. So far Pearl has been able to use her agility and grace to easily dodge the attacks of her opponent, while also taking a few moments to land a couple of swipes and thrusts on the outer shell of the automaton which allowed Pearl to come to the same realization as each of her teammates; these things can't be destroyed by their traditional means. Each spear thrown clashed off the orb's surface with ease and each thrust pinged against the exterior of the machine, nothing Pearl tried seemed to be working and all she could really do was keep the robonoid focused on her while the others try and find a way to deal with their own.

The robonoid once again finds itself smashing into one of the adjacent walls, it attacks gracefully side swiped by its target; however, it's target won't be so lucky. As Pearl rolled out of the way, Garnet finished her devastating attack against her own robonoid, sending a lot of that solution airborne to coat several areas of the Kindergarten HQ, one of those areas being right were Pearl rolled onto. Right,when her back touched the awaiting lubricant, she was bound to the floor; locked into her position as her opponent readies himself for its counter attack.

Pearl goes to seat up but finds this stuff to be _very_ adessive, keeping her sealed to the floor with little give, leaving her in a rather undesirable situation. The robonoid pried himself from the devout he made in the wall and lines himself up perfectly with the new position Pearl is occupying before it takes in its limbs and starts to spin in place, building up speed for its final strike. "Garnet, Amethyst - I could really use some help right now!" Pearl called out as she looked to find her team, but was surprised to see what has happened.

Garnet's arms were completely sealed while Amethyst, who seemed very much annoyed with her current position, was also sealed but not by her arms or legs, but by her long flowing hair right onto the back of Garnet. And if their impromptu fuse wasn't bad enough, the cracked but still functioning robonoid Garnet used to free herself was back up and prepared for another round, leaving both Garnet and Amethyst a bit preoccupied at the moment. "Pearl!" Amethyst called out, quickly spotting her friend and the position she was in. She tried to get over to her, but her connection with Garnet by way of her hair wasn't helping, along with the still functioning robonoid blocking their path that made things extra difficult to get through.

"Hang on, Pearl, we'll get to you," Garnet said trying to keep a level head as she tried to figure out how to go about this, but right now she couldn't think clearly, so much was happening, she couldn't keep focused on just one thing. Time was not on the Gem's side as the robonoid placed before Pearl wasn't going to wait for them to find a way out of this predicament; after it had built up enough speed, the droid was off, heading dead straight towards Pearl.

"Pearl, keep your head down!" Obsidian yelled, ducking under the robonoid keeping Garnet and Amethyst at bay, summoning a level of speed none of the gems have yet to see until today. In a flash Naruto's scythe was in his free hand, glowing a steamy red hue as he made his way swiftly towards her position. As the Robonoid drew closer so did Naruto as he leaps over Pearl's glued body and, with one final battle cry, sent out a projectile wave of energy and heat from the slash of his scythe, slicing through its target like butter. The two halves of the robonoid spun out harmlessly in different directions while the goo within it merely splattered mere inches away from Obsidian's feet.

Though Naruto's assault was successful he knew he wasn't done, as they still had one last orb remaining that Amethyst and Garnet at this moment were ill-equipped to handle. So, with an intake of air, Naruto replicated his previous move, releasing a ripple of heat and energy aimed straight at the robonoid, slicing it in half diagonally, causing it to fall over and it's content to spill out all over the floor.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he turned to meet the gem he just saved, the same humorous grin still playing on his features, "it's been a _long_ time since I've been able to do that." He said, rotating his shoulders as to loosen them up. "Need a hand?"

Pearl seemed shocked beyond belief, not only has Obsidian just presented to everyone some new abilities but he also saved her, _her_ ; the gem who's been nothing but suspicious and snappish to him since the moment they've met. Something didn't seem right, why would he do that? Why would he help her when no one else could? If he was in the same position, she couldn't really say she'd be jumping at the chance to save him from his fate...maybe she was wrong about him, maybe just a little. "...I-I guess you could say that," she said letting a chuckle escape her lips.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm gonna have to ask you to lean forward." And so she did, as far as she could before Naruto took his scythe, super heated the tip, slipped it under her and, without a moment to spare, Pearl was freed from her spot. Naruto dispelled his weapon before offering his hand to her, which she took without hesitation, a welcomed change from how she might have acted a week or two.

"Your scythe, it can cut through that stuff?" She asked, looking back towards where she was held hostage, but was confused when she saw a piece of flooring missing from the floor of the Kindergarten HQ.

Naruto chuckled sheepishly, "nope, I don't really think anything can cut through it. I just cut the floor so you could stand up, it's still kinda glued to you back."

"WHAT?!" She yelped aggressively as she looked backward to see a piece of the floor peeking over her shoulder as it set firmly on her back. She grumbled, "aw, well that's just great, now I have a nice chunk of flooring glu-...ummm, Obsidian, you can let go of my hand now." As she mentioned their connection, even Naruto had forgotten he still had a firm grip on her hand and, if Pearl hadn't mentioned it, he'd probably have held onto it for a bit more. I guess he wanted to possibly hold onto this moment for a bit longer, this was the first time since he'd met Pearl that she'd actually treated him like a normal gem instead of a threat or an outsider, it was a sweet moment...but he just had to make it weird by holding onto her hand for a bit too long.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sure." Naruto went to let go, releasing his five digits around Pearl's hand but when he tried to pull away he found that he was unable to do so. He tried again, this time with a bit more force, but it ended just the same as the first one - their palms still connected together. "...Uuuuh, hey Pearl?"

"Yeah?" She asked, a bit of concern playing on her features.

"...Okay, so, I'm gonna tell you something you may not like, but you gotta promise me you won't get mad at me." He murmured, his shoulders slouching and his head hanging low, almost as if he wished he could shrink away right about now.

Pearl was a bit slow on her response, "...Why?" She finally asked,

Naruto sighed, preparing himself for what was to come. "I think one of us, I'm not going to put the blame on either one of us, but I think one of us….had some of that substance on our hands….soooo, we're kinda stuck together until we find a wa-" his calming words fell on deaf ears seeing as Pearl really didn't care about what he had to say next, all that stuck with her was "we're stuck together".

"WHAAAAAAAAAT! No, no, no, no! There must be a mistake," Pearl pleaded as she tried to pry apart their hands as well, but found it just as hopeless as trying to free herself from the floor mere moments ago. "This can't be happening!" Pearl moaned, "out of all the people to be stuck to, why did it have to be you."

" _Well, I'm glad Pearl showed me a few minutes of respect before going back to her usual ways."_ Naruto bitterly thought, Naruto's hopes of becoming friends with Pearl after today now slowly losing its probability. "It's okay, it's okay. We'll figure out a way to get this stuff off of us, I'm sure of it."

"Oh? And why are you so sure about it?" Pearl asked rather snappishly,

"Well, Peridot designed this substance to subdue us and other gems for easier transport, right?" Pearl begrudgingly nods. "So, it stands to reason that there's also a way to release us, we just need to find a way to do that."

"Obsidian is right, we need to think critically. If we start to panic nothing will get done," Garnet stated, walking to their side with Amethyst fumbling behind, still having a bit of trouble learning how to keep up with Garnet's longer gate.

"So we're stuck like this until we can find something that might unstick us?" Garnet nods, "perfect, just perfect."

Before they could continue their conversation, Steven jumps from his hiding spot and runs to meet them, a gleaming grin firmly etched into his face. "That was amazing, you guys!" He yelled joyously as he latched onto Obsidian's thigh. "I'd never seen you four work so perfectly together, that was incredible! Especially you, Naruto, what was that thing you did?! You just swung your scythe and BAM those robanoids were cut clean in half!"

Naruto chuckles and Steven's overabundance of enthusiasm, it really seemed to bring a smile to his face no matter the circumstances. "How about I explain on the way back home," and so, with their battle won, the Crystal Gems head home for the night, ready for a well-deserved rest or so they thought.

 **\- Steven's Beach House: 2 Hours later -**

"Okay, so Peanut butter doesn't work. Neither does Chocolate syrup, dish detergent, or egg yolks….hmm, let's try some yogurt this time." Steven rambles as he fumbles through the fridge for the greek yogurt he always pushes to the back. Now, why would Steven be needing peanut butter, chocolate syrup, dish detergent, egg yolk, and yogurt? Well, seeing as Steven was unable to help during the fight today, he was determined to help them find a way to get unstuck from their current situation, no matter how long it takes! So, for the past 2 hours Steven's been slathering the Crystal Gems with different products in hope of finally separating them from one another…..and I think you can guess how that's been going.

Each and every member of the Gems has at least one body part completely covered in the disgusting combination of peanut butter, chocolate syrup, dish detergent, and egg yolk, leaving that body part covered in a nasty looking sheen as if it was glossy. "U-Ummm, Steven, I love your enthusiasm, but I don't think picking things out of the kitchen is the way to go about this," Obsidian stated kindly, glad to see how enthusiastic the boy was to help, but also had a strong desire to make him stop helping. "We have to think about what Peridot would use, something that is readily available on the home world."

"Well, you two seemed to be close, what do _you_ think she would us?" Pearl quipped, also unhappy with the amount of...unusual items on her hand and back.

Naruto began to think once more, hoping, this time, something would come to him. "...Something simple, a basic element that I'm just not getting." His eyes shut tight as a thought came to him, it was faint, almost nonexistent, but it's there….well, it _was_ there. "hmm…...I've got nothing, this is the first time I've ever seen her create something like this. I thought her intellect leant her more towards robotics, not something synthetic."

"Well, if you can't think of anything, let's keep looking," Steven said, Obsidian's previous statement completely forgotten in Steven's desire to help. "OOOH! Let's try toothpaste, it get's rid of plaque, I bet it can get rid of this gunk. Be right back," with that, Steven rushed out of the room, heading straight for his bathroom to russle up some toothpaste, leaving the gems to their thoughts.

Naruto sighed as he rested his head against the back of the couch, "at this rate, this is going to take us forever," Obsidian then noticed the downcasted expression on his little blue friend. She hasn't said a word since they came home, all she's done is merely sit there, silently taking in the conversations around her with a frown etched into her usually cheerful features. Naruto knew what he needed to do, he needed to say something, anything to apologize for what he did to her, "Amethyst," She looked up but barely, almost if wondering if what he was about to say worth her time, "I don't think I can say this enough to you, but I'm sorry, I just….I just thought what I was doing was best for this world that you and your team have sacrificed so much for to keep safe."

The room ran silent, everyone's eyes were on Amethyst as they waited with baited breath as to what she was going to respond with. However, in typical Amethyst fashion, Naruto was met with a sucker punch into his ribs, "that wasn't your decision to make!" She barked venomously, "did you not think that we could have helped you? Did it not even cross your mind to ask us for help or just….clue us into what you were about to do? No, you ran away. You thought you needed to do this on your own, but I've got news for you pal, you're not alone anymore," She soon found her head leaning against his shoulder, a single tear breaking free. So much worrying, so much stress - all this and more was built up the moment she thought she had lost Naruto, and now that he's back, she couldn't help but let it out, "get use to it."

Naruto places his head atop hers, a small smile gracing his features. "...Your right, I should."

"You're darn right I am, you're a crystal gem now so you better start acting like it." The same cheeky smirk appears on Amethyst's features.

"...A-A crystal...Gem?" He asked, almost as if what he just heard wasn't real. He turned to his little friend, who was sporting a glowing grin, "You mean…"

"We discussed it and you've proved yourself to be a good addition to the Crystal Gems….." Garnet answered him, her usual neutral face cracking a smirk of her own, a rare affair but it felt right for this moment. "Well, you _had_ until you pulled this stunt. Now, we're not entirely sure we should-"

"What?! Naruto's gonna be a Crystal Gem? That's awesome!" Steven said excitingly, in one hand his toothpaste and another some toilet cleaner fluid that he thought might help; but at this moment in time, dissolving the glue that held the crystal gems together was the last thing on his mind right now. "Why didn't you guys tell me?!"

Pearl giggled, "Steven, you're not the best at keeping secrets."

"What are you talking about? I'm great at keeping secrets, you didn't know that Amethyst was stolen your battle axe for the fourth time in a row, now did you?" The room fell silent as Pearl turned her gaze towards Amethyst who was suspiciously shifting in her seat almost as if she was guilty of something. "...U-Ummm, I mean…..Wow, Naruto's our newest member! We should celebrate!"

"Actually, before we celebrate, I need to talk to Obsidian...alone," Pearl spoke up, her tone conveying nothing to Naruto or the rest of the gems.

"What about?" Amethyst asked, a bit suspicious of Pearl's sudden desire to be all alone and personal with _her_ Obsidian. It's not enough that Pearl is the one who get's to hold hands with Naruto for an undisclosed amount of time, but now she wants some alone time with him? This doesn't seem to sit too well with Amethyst, but, she needed to play it cool - she needed to assess the situation.

"It's….personal," Pearl responded rather blankly, giving none of them anything to go off of.

"...Ummmm-" Amethyst began, but it was cut rather short by another one's response.

"Go ahead, but don't be too long, you know how Steven get's when he's excited," Garnet stated, allowing the two to head outside, leaving the two remaining gems to discuss.

"Garnet, are you sure you want to leave them alone like that?" Amethyst wondered, "...maybe we should follow them just in cas-"

"If Obsidian is going to be a part of the team we're going to have to trust him with his team members, that includes Pearl," Garnet explained, placing a stern hand on the little gem's shoulder, keeping her firmly placed on the couch next to her. "Whatever Pearl needed to talk about, I trust her to treat Obsidian like a proper team member would, you should do the same."

" _I hope you're right, Garnet."_

"So, what exactly did you need to talk to me abou-"

"Did you know that we thought about making you a part of our team long before now," said Pearl, leaning against the railing while she stared off into the distance, watching the waves ripple through the ocean. "The discussion started the first week or two after we found you . Amethyst and Steven were all for it, but I and Garnet thought it was too soon to make such a decision. We've discussed it countless times after that, it was always brought up by either Steven or Amethyst and each time it was brought up I never really saw why they were so adamant for you to become one of us. I only started questioning my own paranoia when I saw that Garnet was even considering it. I was so confused, why, what have you done to prove yourself to my friends, I just didn't see it….until today." "Not only did you try to protect our planet from another homeworld invasion, but you also fought to protect me and my friends; someone who's willing to do that is worthy of being called a Crystal Gem,"

"Pearl, that means a lot coming from you. Thank you," He squeezes his conjoined hand against hers, "I promise that I will protect you four and this world with my life, and that's my promise of a lifetime, Dattebayo!"

"Well, I'll hold you to that, Obsidian," Pearl said with a rather sweet smile, it was strange to see but….oddly, it was a treat to see. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Pearl pulled him in close, her face dangerously close to Naruto's, "If you _ever_ hurt Amethyst like that again, I will end you myself, am I understood?"

"Y-Yeah," Obsidian answered nervously thanks to the close proximity to Pearl's face and the threat she just delivered.

"Good. Now, let's head in, the other's must be waiting for us."

Naruto, now being led by Pearl, was prepared to head in; happiness and a bit of fear stirring around in his very core, but something stopped him cold. Something caught his attention with a simple whiff of the air, it….it was salty? Now, why would that stop him dead in his tracks? He's been living near the beach for months now, the salty sea air is just something you grow accustomed to . However, this salty air tied into Naruto's thoughts mere minutes ago - the word that he couldn't quite catch….it was-

" _Salt!"_ Naruto thought as he looked to the ocean, the waves heaving on and off the beach in a rhythmic fashion. Without a second of hesitation, Naruto dived over the balcony, bringing Pearl along for the ride as he rushes the water without delay.

"Obsidian! Where are you going?!" Pearl yelled, not too keen on being dragged behind a mad man dashing towards the ocean.

"It's the answer I've been looking for, Pearl," Naruto explained, his direction never wavering from the massive body of water in front of him. "Its Sodium, salt water has Sodium! That's the answer."

"What are you talking about? What does Sodium have to do with-" Without warning, Naruto jumped head first into the ocean with reckless abandonment with Pearl an unwilling tag along in all of this. After a few seconds submerged under the water, Obsidian emerges from the deep blue sea with a both of his hands-free of the lubricant that bounded them seconds earlier. "Wow! Hahaha, I found it!"

"What the hell here you thinking?! You gave me a freaking heart attack!" Pearl shouted as she surfaced from under the water, this little dip did nothing to change her disposition.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but look!" He presented his two hands, completely devoid of the strange liquid that bounded him to her. "It was Sodium, well, more specifically, the base chemical that forms Sodium. The ocean had the right amount of Sodium to made the lubricant unstable enough to be pulled apart."

"...No way, how did you know that?" She looked to her own hand as if seeing Naruto's detached from her's wasn't enough evidence. As she continued to examine her hand, she couldn't help but feel something was….off, it was missing something….what could it be? " _The warmth of Obsidian's hand."_ she thought before she immediately banished that thought from her mind. How could that thought even appear in her mind? She's despised this gem for months now, how could she possibly think of something like this? " _M-Maybe it was just because I-I was used to his hand there….yeah, that's why my hand feels weird."_

"The minerals we mine from the core of our planet and others are rich in the components that make up Sodium, which is then used in countless experiments and solutions. I guess you could say that it was a really lucky educated guess," Naruto explained, ecstatic about

"Well, I guess we're lucky for your lucky guess," she chuckled, "I'll go get the others, they'll be ecstatic! Good work, Obsidian!"

"Thank you," He replied, a small smile gracing his features as the events of today replayed in his mind. So much has happened, some good, some bad, some straight down the middle, but if he had to say what made this day all worth it - it'd have to be becoming a crystal gem. " _Finally, I feel like I belong again. I feel…..like I'm home and I'll make sure I protect it with every ounce of my being, even from the likes of you….Jasper."_ And with that said, Naruto heads back to shore, prepared to spend the night celebrating with _his_ teammates…..unaware of the danger just around the bend, heading on a direct course for planet earth.

 **Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all liked it! Please review and if you have any question please feel free to PM me anytime, I'll make sure to get back to you.**

 **Alucard1959 OUT!**


	11. A Day Full of Suprises

**Chapter 8**

 **Beyond the Veil: A Day Full of Surprises**

 **I own Nothing**

"Psst, hey, Steven." A voice called out to the sleeping youngster, his head buried deep into his pillow as he snuggles deeper into it. "Steven - hey, wake up buddy!" There it was again, this time accompanied with a little nudge to the boy's shoulder for good measure.

"What? No Garnet…..I-I don't wanna eat pickles for breakfast…..that's not a…..breakfast food," Steven mumbled, his mind unable to produce proper or coherent sentences this late at night.

"What?" The voice question with a chuckle, "no, Steven, it's me, Naruto. Now wake up, we've got some training to do,"

That seemed to do the trick as the boy kicked up from his bed, a droozy yet infectious grin exploding onto his features. "Did you say training?!" Steven cried out in excitement though his jubilation was cut short when his new teacher clasped his hand over his mouth with a playful yet stern look to him.

"Shhhhh! Let's keep our voices down, alright?" Obsidian instructed before releasing Steven's mouth. "Now, are you ready to continue your training?"

"You know I am," Steven whispered before he jumped from the comfort of his bed and rushed to the main door, his sparkling smile shining in the dark and starry night. "Come on, let's get a move on!"

As the two headed towards their usual spot, Naruto began to reflect on the week they've had together so far. At first, Steven was not prepared for waking up so late at night, his first day of training was mostly sprinkled with little impromptu nap sessions by the shield wielding kid, but that was to be expected and Naruto planned accordingly. Each day was a new experience for Steven, each one trying new ways to awaken his weapon once again, one dealt with physical exertion, seeing if pushing his body to a certain degree would show results - it did not, to the ire of Steven whose muscles were on fire the following morning. Next up was sparring - not anything _too_ dangerous, mind you - but enough to give Steven some urgency to need his weapon. Though Steven did show some promise in becoming a good fighter in the future, the sparring matches didn't do much for the boy.

This continued the entire week, each night spent trying to find something, anything that would trigger his weapon, yet everything fell short, leaving Steven a little disheartened about his chances. "Alright Steven, I think it's time for us to mix things up a bit. How about we-"

Naruto couldn't finish his thought as Steven stopped before him, halting both his momentum and his words. "Naruto….I know you're trying your best and I'm really grateful for it but….we've been trying all these different things for the past week now and nothing seems to be working…..maybe the two other times I awakened my weapon were just flucks….maybe I-" But this time it was Steven's turn to be cut off as Naruto placed a firm hand on the boy's soft fro.

"Hey, that's enough, I won't have my student doubting his abilities; once you do that, you've already lost." He spoke firmly, a confidence in his voice that Steven wished he had. No matter how hopeless this past week was, Obsidian never showed any type of disappointment or regret, he would only smile and motivate Steven to get back up and continue onward. "I know that this must be frustrating, you feel like you're inches away from your goal only to take four steps back - but once you give up, you'll lose all of the progress you've made and then what do you have to show for it? I believe in you, Steven. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"...Y-You do?" He questioned, a nod answering it. "You're right, Naruto. I'm sorry for that,"

"There's no need to be sorry, Steven. We all lose sight of things, we just need someone to help us back on track." He chuckled as the two made their way towards their spot with relative haste, the night was their only time to train and they couldn't waste it by standing around. Once there, Steven began their usual routine, stretching out his muscles and doing some warm up exercises, but was surprised to see that Naruto wasn't participating - infact, he's take a seat on a nearby stump, ushering Steven to do the same. "Now, I've been thinking about this all week and I've been wondering why you haven't been able to conjure up your weapon. Can you tell me once more what happened the other times you awakened your weapon? Maybe that'll give me something to work with,"

Plopping down beside his teacher, Steven began to think back on those moments in time, his thumb and forefinger gripping his chin in a thoughtful stance. "Well, the first time happened when I was eating some Cookie Cat ice cream bars and the other was when Lapis had tried to attack Connie."

"And what did you feel in that moment?" Obsidian asked,

Steven hummed as the gears of his mind began to turn. "With the Cookie Cat ice cream bars I felt pretty satisfied cause they were out of stock and were probably going to be discontin-"

Obsidian chuckled, "no, not that one, I meant the second one when you protected Connie, what did you feel right then?"

"Oh, well, I was worried…..and scared that my friend was going to be hurt," Steven answered, nodding his head as he listed his feelings.

"Anything else?" He wondered,

Steven clasped his eyes shut as he thought back to that moment, "ummmm….I-I wanted to protect her, I didn't want anything to happen to her because of me…..and then, when I decided I wanted to protect her-"

"You awakened your shield." Obsidian answered for his young student, which said student nodded in confirmation. Realization began to set in as Obsidian decided to tell Steven his hypothesis. "Steven, I think your weapon is triggered by your desire to protect people."

Steven's eyes grew wide, how could he not have thought of that? Thinking back, it was so obvious! The answer was staring him in the face the whole time and yet it just flew past him. Though, a thought did come to his mind that he needed to voice, "b-but I feel that all the time, though. Every time something bad happens to Beach City, I feel bad about it and I want to protect the people that call Beach city there home."

Obsidian nodded, "yes, that's true, but there was a defining factor that you had lacked during those times." He explained, "you _decided_ that you wanted to protect her. It takes a strong, decisive heart and mind to bring forth your weapon, it cannot be just a thought nor a desire, but a hard _need_ for it to come out when you desire it too."

Steven thought on that answer, his mind swirling the information around as he came to the same conclusion his teacher did. "...So, you're saying that because I decided to protect my friend….I brought the shield out,"

"Exactly, now, we just have to work on how we can replicate that feeling within you, weather your friend is or is not in danger, so you can call upon your tool on a heim like we do." An idea came to him, an image of his supposed "fake" life as Naruto Uzumaki flashed before his mind. "And I think I might have an idea, come with me." Just as Steven was getting cozy on the soft grass, his teacher stood up and waved him to follow him to an even patch of grass. "The problem was that I've been going about this all wrong. I settled back into my older habits when I was teaching other gems back at homeworld; I was focusing too hard on the physical and not on the mental, you are different from us so I guess we need to start thinking differently." Once explained, Obsidian took his spot in the center of his training grounds. "Now, sit here, cross your legs and close your eyes. What we're about to do is meditate,"

"Meditate?" His teacher's actions were quickly followed by Steven who sat in front of him, as instructed.

"Yes, we're going to clear your mind of all distractions, once that's done maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to put you into that same mindset to trigger your weapon."

"I hope this works," and so the meditation session had begun, their silence intensified as minutes seemed to fly by, before anyone knew it, an hour had passed and the cluttered mess of ideas and thoughts that ran rampant through Steven's mind began to clear, leaving nothing more than an empty void of peace and serenity.

"Good, Steven, you're doing great." Obsidian stated, releasing a calming outtake of air. "Now that you've cleared your mind, it's time to begin. I want you to focus in on your memory of that day, I want your mind to pull from it, allow yourself to see and feel as vividly as you did on that day. Now, this Lapis you speak of, what's she like?"

Steven's closed eyes twitched as the memory began to surface, but this time it was far more clearer as if he was reliving this very moment once again. "...S-She's a cracked gem…..she's scared a-and confused…..she's determined to get back to home world…."

"Very nice, now, what's happening?" He encouraged,

"...She's sucking up all the water from the oceans….she's creating a massive pillar of water into the sky…...Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Dad, Lion and I are all there at the bottom of the pillar….I-I feel sorry for her that she has to feel this way." Steven continued onward,

"What happens next?"

"...She sends out copies of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and I to keep us busy….w-we fought as hard as we could, but nothing seemed to be working…...we had no idea how to beat them….Dad broke his leg, Connie almost drowned…...everything was-"

"Hectic," Obsidian interrupted, putting words in the young gem's mouth.

"Yeah, very much so…...after I saw Connie and Dad close to getting hurt…..I told Lapis that I was done fighting, I didn't want to fight anymore…..but she didn't listen…..she fired one last attack at us using my water copy…...and then-" But soon, his recollection was halted by Naruto's voice.

"Don't go any further, hold on that moment." So Steven did, the memory of this battle freezing in mid-climax, as if Steven was watching a movie and hit pause. "Now, I don't want you to focus on who's there or what's happening, I want you to only focus on what you felt at that very moment and I want you to _feel_ them once more as raw as they were on that exact day."

"...I-I was fed up, I was angry at Lapis's attacks…" Steven felt the same inkling of rage he felt on that day, the tingling heat that rushed through his body like a wildfire. "...I-I felt worried for my family and friends, I was nervous for their safety…." Just as rage slipped through his body moments before so did the nervousness that plagued him that day cycled through him as it did that day before. "...and then, finally…...above all else…...I felt…...no, I _wanted_ to defend my friends….I wanted to save them from this attack and no matter what happened, I was prepared to protect them with everything I had!" That was it! A warmth grew from his very core, lighting up his gem like a christmas ornament before it projected a very familiar and welcomed sight to see. Steven opened his eyes as the warming glow of his pink shield caught his attention. "I did it!" Steven cried as his shield floated before him. "I brought out my shield! Yes, yes, yes!"

"Easy Steven, keep focus." Naruto stated sternly, "I know this is exciting but you need to learn to stay focused enough to keep your weapon live."

"O-Oh, right, sorry." And so Steven followed his teacher's advice, closing his eyes once more to try and keep this feeling alive within himself.

"No need to be sorry, Steven. I'm proud that you did this so quickly," he praised, looking over the weapon with calculative eyes. Such an interesting weapon for such an interesting boy, most gems wield harmful or offensive weapons, yet he and subsequently his mother hold a more defensive and protective weapon. I suppose it speaks to their character as gems that in a world filled with danger, they are the only gems equipped to defend against it.

"Thanks, I'm actually surprised myself. I didn't think meditating would do the trick, I thought we'd be at this for maybe another week or two." Steven admitted though he was happy he followed through with his teacher's idea.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, this is just one step forward, we have a lot more training to cover before I'd feel comfortable with you actually helping in a mission." He stated honestly, holding some marity behind his words. "Right now, we're going to focus on your ability to keep your weapon stable and being able to call upon in at a moment's notice."

Steven chuckled nervously at that part. "I-Isn't that rushing things a bit? I-I'm still having trouble keeping it stable right now,"

"I know and that's the perfect time to get you used to it." And just like that, Naruto delivers a punch to the shield, rocking it's defense easily as it dispels. "No enemy is going to wait for you to get ready or let you focus, it's going to have to become second nature to you. That's why I'm going to assign you a little bit of homework."

"Homework?" Steven wondered, stumbling to his feet with a tired look in his eyes. Without much training under his belt, Naruto wasn't surprised to see signs of fatigue after he awoken his shield, he's had to go to great lengths to do so, so it comes at no surprise it takes a hefty toll on the user...well, until they get used to it, that is.

"Yep, between training sessions, I want you to summon your shield at least once a day. Once that get's easy to do, we'll crank it up to two a day, then three, then four, and then we'll be doing it so many times it'll be like second nature." Obsidian explained, standing from his position as well as he walks towards the impromptu training grounds exit, Steven following in toe.

Steven swallowed hard at his teacher's idea of homework. He was rather uncertain that he could do such a thing on his own let alone do something like this while also keeping it a secret from the other gems. So, he decided to voice his opinion to his teacher, "...T-That sounds kinda-"

"Hard? Well, of course it is, this isn't something that's suppose to be easy. You're pulling something deep within yourself to the surface, if it were easy every gem could do it the second they are created." He stated matter of factly as the two neared the beach. however, something seemed to be off. Just before they made it out of their training grounds Obsidian's ears caught something, it was faint, but he'd be lying if he didn't hear something. "Now, I think you might want to turn in early tonight, your gonna need your rest for what's to come."

Steven cocked his brow as he eyed the gem skeptically, "well," he began, "why aren't you coming?"

"Just like you, I need to do a bit of training myself. So go on, go get some rest," Obsidian shooed his young apprentice away and reluctantly, he did just that - leaving Naruto alone with this new, unforeseen body that has taken up residence in his area. "So, how long have you known we were doing this?"

Out from the shadows appeared a familiar yet stern face, "I've always known that this was a possibility, I just needed to see it with my own eyes to know it was a reality." Her arms crossed and her hips cocked, Garnet made her way towards Obsidian.

"So…..what's going to happen? Are you going to tell us to stop?" He questioned, turning to face her.

She seemed to think about her options, her lips unmoving for what felt like minutes on end until Naruto was given his answer in the form of a single word, "...No."

"Really?" He questioned, bewildered by her answer. For some reason Obsidian didn't she'd answer him with such a simple answer, this was Steven they were talking about, the one boy that means the world to the crystal gems and yet she's prepared to let them continue their training with no strings attached? Maybe he overestimated Garnet's 'mama bear' persona.

"This is the furthest any of us have gotten to making progress with Steven's training, it would be foolish to stop you two now." She explained herself before a chuckled left her lips, a rare yet wonderful sound to hear. "Though, if I must say, I'm a bit jealous of you."

"How come?" He wondered,

"You were able to do something that none of us have been able to accomplish, it's impressive…..but also a bit frustrating," she stated honestly, something that Naruto really does appreciate about her - she's never been one to hide something or keep it locked away inside her, everything she feels comes out to those she trusted….well, mostly everything eventually.

Seeing as the conversation was going to continue, both gems decided that it would be best if they started heading home while they continued with it. "I didn't mean to step on anyone's toes, honestly, I just wanted to help Steven. The poor kid felt like he was nothing but a burden to the team, I couldn't let him think that anymore."

"I'm not frustrated at you, I'm frustrated at myself." Garnet said, "each of us tried our hand at helping him and yet neither of us ever thought about asking him the questions you did. We merely told him how _we_ activated our weapons and expected it to work for him as well."

Naruto shook his head harshly, "don't beat yourselves up about this, I bet you three tried everything you could to help Steven." Then he shrugged, a snickering bubbled up from within, "besides, if wasn't here, I bet you would have found a way to help him no problem. I mean, you're two gems in one body, I bet you would have come up with something great to help him bring out his weapon."

Garnet halted, her three eyes widened at Naruto's blatant announcement of her union. "...I gather Amethyst told you about me then?"

Naruto didn't seemed to fazed by her question, "she did, but I think I would have put two and two together." He turned, taking her hands into his as he flipped them over to reveal her palms and the two shimmering gems that resided on them. "I mean, I may not be the sharpest in the galaxy, but a single gem doesn't have two of them embedded in their hands."

Garnet peered over her shades, her multicolored eyes now staring curiously at Naruto. "...A-And what are you thoughts about me?"

"What do you mean?" He asked,

"Most home gems find this form disgusting, an affront to everything fusion was used for." She retorted, earning a sigh from the young gem.

"I thought by now you and the group would have realized that I'm not like the gems from homeworld. I don't act like them, I don't speak like them, and I definitely don't _think_ like them anymore." He explained with purpose as he examined her hands in greater detail, rubbing his thumb over her left gem - eliciting a surprised grunt from the red skinned mother gem, her complexion growing a darker shade of red than she ever imagined it could be. "Honestly, I'd say your amazing,"

"...A-Amazing?" She wondered, pulling her hands from his so as to possibly get some of her composure back. Her stone like attitude has never been rocked this hard by anyone, it was strange and yet, oddly satisfying. Too have another bring something out of you that you haven't felt for quite some time is an interesting feeling to say the least.

"Of course, most fusions are merely created to serve a singular purpose, but you, your union has created something even more spectacular and it wasn't out of a calculated effort, but by your hearts wishing to join as one. From how Amethyst described to me, you're a singular being with your own mind and thoughts, your own desires - technically speaking, you are a new gem, and this all came from a mere fusion brought about by love and care. It's like I said, amazing."

"Have you ever fused before?" She questioned, very curious about his answer.

The question seemed to have stunned him for an instant, his words caught in his throat. "...N-No, of course not. I'm the only Obsidian and you know how homeworld is about two different gems fusing."

"I know that quite well," she smiled, remembering her first interaction with her love, Sapphire. Though being looked down upon by Homeworld for doing something they considered an abomination wasn't that much of a fond memory, but if that never happened she would be here today. Soon, the group grew silent as they continued their somber walk across the beach, their home growing closer and closer into focus. "...Would you like too?"

Such a blatant question would through anyone for a loop, "A-Are you offering to -" Naruto asked, his words escaped him.

"Fuse with you, yes." She answered for him, finding his rather odd reaction to her question cute. "It's an amazing experience and I would...love to walk you through your first time, if you want to, that is."

"But….why would you offer something like that so...nonchalantly?" He asked, still rather caught off guard by such a question. "Amethyst told me that fusion is important to you, why would you just fuse with a stranger?"

"But you aren't a stranger, Obsidian." She answered with a knowing smile. "Though our time together has only been for a few months, I've seen you put your own life on the line to protect not only my friends but the world we've sworn to protect, so, I think can trust you to fuse with me."

Something seemed rather….off with how Naruto looked right now, the moment fusion was brought up he seemed rather chipper about the concept but once asked if he wished to do such an experience himself he began to look worried. "...M-Maybe later," he answered quickly, trying his best to keep his nervousness hidden, to no effect. "Please, I don't want you to think I don't want too….It's just, it's a huge experience and I'd like to be ready to do it properly."

"Of course, you should never rush something like this." She answered, seemingly unaffected by his odd rejection, and yet, if you were her mind, you'd know that wasn't the case. " _Oh no! Did we scare him off? Did we come on too strong?! Ahhh! He might start thinking we're a bunch of weirdos for just asking him point blank to fuse with us!"_ Ruby questioned hectically, trying to find any rhyme or reason as to why he was so quick to dismiss such an offer, but thankfully, she had someone else to calm her in her time of need. " _Ruby, calm down, we need to let him come to us - forcing something like this onto him would have driven him away, but now we just need to wait for him to become more comfortable with the idea."_

"Thank you," Obsidian sighed as he began his trek up the wooden steps of their beach house. "Also, though I do really like Garnet, I'd love to see who makes her up someday,"

She smiled at that, "well, maybe some day you'll get to meet them." But before they could continue, a thought popped into Garnet's mind, one that needed to be voiced. "Oh, and if you could, please don't tell Steven about my little secret. I want to surprise him,"

"Trust me, I know. Amethyst made me swear 1,000 times that I'd never tell Steven your secret. Your secret is safe with me," he chuckled, slowly opening the screen door so as to not disturb anyone's slumber. "Goodnight, Garnet. See you in the morning,"

"...Yeah, see you then." A fluttered when through Garnet's very being when she saw Naruto's swave smile as he disappeared into the beach house.

 **-One Week Later -**

"This place is even bigger and more weapony than I remember."

"This was the sight of a historic battle. Every weapon here was left by a gem over 5,000 years ago." Pearl states, ducking under a massive axe - it's worn tip still stuck firmly into the battlefield. "I don't like to disturb it, but Garnet said we can't just leave these lying around." As she speaks, Garnet's already doing her duty by ripping the aforementioned axe from it's home with a simple grunt, tossing it over her shoulder as if it was nothing more than a paperweight.

"Never know when you might need one of these." she quipped,

"I need one of those all the time!" Steven retorts with his usual loud yet surprisingly charming attitude.

"Why don't you look for one that's more...you?" Pearl hummed, hoping that Steven might get the hint.

"Okay, Lion, come help me look." But the pink-furred creature was a bit busy with its own search - following behind a dainty butterfly, prepared to strike at any moment. "Aww, come on!"

"You really need to train that thing better." Pearl said,

"Oh, we've been making progress. Now he looks at me when I say his name." "Lion!" Steven called, but his feline friend seemed a bit more focused on the fluttering insect that was in his sights. "Hey, lion!" He called yet again, but, surprisingly, he was met with the same result. This continued for quite some time, Steven calling for his pet while said pet continued to root around in the strawberry patch that seemed to have taken over the battle grounds. "Uh, sometimes." Soon after, lion does, in fact, come back to Steven but this time he had a scabbard gripped in his maw like a wounded animal, presenting it to Steven like we're a price.

"What's he got now?" But Pearl soon gasped at the sight of its distinct color scheme and rose design in the center. "That's the scabbard for Rose's sword!" With this realization, Pearl wrestles the holster for Rose's sword out from in Lion's mouth, looking rather annoyed that such a sacred thing was placed in such a nasty area.

Steven scanned the area, mystified by the news now given to him. "Mom fought here?"

"That's right, and I fought alongside her," Pearl stated proudly, her eyes twinkling with pride at her involvement.

"Man, I wish I could have seen it." Amethyst chimed in, her arms locked behind her head.

"No, you don't. Countless gems were broken here. It was a maelstrom of destruction and death." Garnet explained in grave detail, her face stern as she recounted the horrors that befell this place and the gems that fought there.

"But we won!" Pearl said triumphantly, undercutting the seriousness of Garnet's words. "Your mother led us to glorious victory. The odds were against us, and our hearts were uncertain, but we chose to fight alongside rose, and here we made our stand against our homeworld!" She continued her tale with fondness in her words and nostalgia in her heart for what took place on this battlefield, all that she remembered were the times she was there for Rose and when Rose was there for her - nothing more, nothing less.

After they gathered up as many weapons as they could, the traveled back to their home, where Naruto was, now coming back from his morning training session. After seeing the gang had left on some secret mission, he decided it would be the best time to get a little exercise in before they returned and as luck would have it, he walked back in just in the right time to see the Crystal gems with their hands full of sharp and pointy objects. "Oh, there you four are, I woke up this morning and you guys had disappeared on me."

"Hey, Naruto, we just got back from a historical battleground that was used for the final battle against the homeworld gems and us, you should have seen it! There were weapons spewed all over the place, some were massive - bigger than five of me standing on top of each other." Steven proclaimed, his face etched with excitement and wonder like it usually is after or during a mission.

"That does sound pretty neat, Steven, but personally, I think I've seen enough battlefields to last a lifetime," Obsidian informed him,

"Oh yeah, I guess that's true. You must have seen hundreds of them." Steven nodded before another curious look came over his features. "Hey, what were they like?"

"I can't really recall all of them, they all kinda mix together in my mind. When you're in the heat of battle, your enemies mere inches from you - prepared to end you at a moments notice you can't really stop and survey the land." Obsidian stated honestly, though he didn't seem to notice how grim it sounded in context.

Steven chuckled nervously, unware of how to deal with what the war-torn gem had just told him. "...I-I guess I never thought of it that way,"

"Hey, Obsidian, check this out?!" Thankfully, the award moment was ended by Amethyst, the queen of perfect timing. She ran up to her not so secret sweetheart and produced her pile of weapons she so proudly holds to him, a smile a mile long now gracing her features. "Look at all of these weapons I found? What do you think? I think our room's been needing another pile!"

But, once again, their conversation was interrupted by another, in this case being Garnet, who was trying to fit the massive axe from the battleground through a small door frame leading to god knows where. "Amethyst, help me with this axe first, then you can make as many piles as you want in your room."

"Alright, alright - coming!" Amethyst sighed as she was about to put down her swords to go help her differently colored friend, but was stopped by Obsidian.

"I got this, Amethyst. You go and make your pile," he said,

"Really? Awesome! See you later, Obsidian, I'm gonna go find the perfect spot for this stuff!" You didn't need to tell Amethyst twice as she scooped up her pile once more and rushed towards her room, a goofy grin now playing on their lips. "Oh, and also, make sure you check your side of the room before you sleep tonight, I may or may not put these piles of weapons where your bed is."

"Really? You couldn't find _any_ other place to put it?" Obsidian asked with a knowing smile.

"What, that spot is perfect!...J-Just make sure to check, alright?" And like that, Amethyst was off, prepared to make another messy pile in her room just for the pure fun of it.

Obsidian shook his head in a knowing fashion, he's grown more and more accustomed to Amethyst's strange habits when it comes to her room. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He chuckled as he saw her light blue hair disappear into her room. "Alright Garnet, whatcha need?"

"Grab the other end, I need you to help me maneuver it through the door." She ordered, shifting the axe to hopefully give Obsidian enough space to help.

He looked to the axe that now hung out of the door, the bladed portion seemed to be the part that was stuck and cocked a brow. "...You mean the sharp part of the axe?"

"Yep," she answered. "Hurry, grab hold!"

"Why, are you losing your grip?" He asked, quickly gripping the weapon so as to help her if she was in trouble.

With a snicker, Garnet answered him, "no, I just don't want to hold onto this thing all day, now let's go."

With a twitch of his eyebrow, Obsidian reluctantly did as he was instructed and helped Garnet through the tight corridors of this crystal lined area, a place that he hasn't seen yet. " _The longer I stay here the more questions I seem to have for this place."_ Naruto thought to himself. "Where are we taking this thing anyway? Cause it looks like this room is nothing more than a narrow hallway of crystals and more crystals."

"This isn't the first time we've gone back to the battlefield to clear it up. We go there every so often and store what we have picked up into the weapon's vault." Garnet answered, leading the weapon down the narrow passageway like a pro, almost as if she's done this before.

"Weapon's vault? This place has a weapon's vault?" He asked,

"Yep," answered Garnet, "Amethyst likes to keep her weapons in her room while I like to store them in there."

"Well, I guess you can think of Amethyst's room as her own armory. Trust me, there's enough stuff in there to ward off any invading force," he chuckled, sending an unexpected warmth through the red gem's being. "Hey, I've been meaning to talk with you about that….proposition you offered me a week ago."

"Proposition? Hmmm, I don't think I follow." Garnet said, her voice knowingly playful as she taps her chin in 'thought'.

"Come on, don't be like that, Garnet, you know what I mean." Obsidian answered rather bashfully, "*sigh* the….fusion thing,"

"Oh, you mean that one. Personally, I thought you had forgotten about it." She hummed,

He shook his head harshly, "of course not, I don't think I could forget such a suggestion. Now….I've been thinking about it a lot lately and...well, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to fuse."

"Don't sound too enthusiastic about it, Obsidian." She said numbly before she put down the weapon, halting both of them in their path. "Forget I asked you; if you don't want to do it, please, don't force yourself to-"

"No, no, no! It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just….I've never done something like this, two people coming together as one, it's kind of a weird thing to think about." He interrupted, unwilling to let this be forgotten. "I mean, what will happen to me? Will I lose all of who I am or will I gain something from you or-"

Garnet placed her hand on his shoulder, a soothing tone came to her voice as she spoke. "It's alright to be nervous about this,"

"O-Okay, so what do I do? U-Ummm, d-do I ummm," He tried to think of what he needed to do to initiate the fusion process, but his mind came up with nothing - everything he knew about gem biology flew out the window, leaving him dumbfounded in front of Garnet.

"Easy Obsidian, just let your feelings flow through you. Here, let me show you," her voice soothing and helpful, she grabbed his hands and placed on on her hip while she held the other. Her hand soon slipped behind him, pulling him closer to her - a guttural sound escaping the young gems lips at the sudden closeness. "Hold on and keep your eyes on me." After those words of confidence the two began to move, slowly swaying back and forth as the motion took them, each growing more and more comfortable in their position. "There you go, you're getting it," but Garnet didn't expect what was coming next. Without warning the tables were swiftly turned, instead of Garnet leading a young, unsure gem through his first fusion, this supposed unsure gem took charge, picking up the tempo of the dance and began to through his own moves into it, his movements were swift and calculated but also very interesting. "W-Wow, there you go!" Soon, the dance came to an end as Naruto dipped Garnet, their faces now inches apart. Garnet was lucky that her shades hid her her eyes from his because the were wide from what just happened. He just….took over the dance as if this was second nature to him, it was beautiful but also strange for someone who's never fused to take the lead after just a minute.

But her musing was soon stopped when her gems along with his own began to shine as Garnet felt the same closeness she usually reserved for Pearl and Amethyst wash over the two. "Are you ready?"

"...Yes," engulfed in the light, the two gems became one as their bodies made of light morphed into one being. The cave grew quiet as the light soon died down, dimming to reveal a singular form where two once stood.

" **..W-What the? So….this is fusion, Garnet? No, wait….I'm Garnet…..or am I Obsidian? No, w-we're neither - we're…..Rubellite!"** The new being proclaimed, almost confused at its very existence yet it felt a certain giddiness to it. **"W-Wow, this is….amazing! Look at us, Garnet! W-...We're massive!"** the now formed Rubellite chuckled, staring at her four appendages as each one intriguing them more and more by the second. This body, it was so new, so interesting - nothing like this has happened in quite some time for Garnet. She's fused with Pearl and Amethyst countless times and even though she always feels a sense of warmth and endearment when together with them this one gave her feelings she'd never experience with the others, wonderment and power. The others never had such power within themselves, it was mostly Garnet who brought that into their fusions but now, now she realizes what they mean when they say 'when we fuse with you we feel like we can do anything'. Right now this body, this mind, and these feelings - they're all so….intoxicating.

They moved forward, trying to get used to the feeling of becoming one - their legs felt like jelly at first, like a newborn deer testing out it's potential for the first time, but soon, the two were moving faster together, one foot in front of the other until they were in a full on sprint down the corridor. Their hair, still a mystery to the two, bellowed behind them as they picked up speed, taking in the sights and sound in this new form while unaware of their destination. Before you knew it, they were inches away from smacking straight into the heavily reinforced door that held their weaponry, however, it didn't seem to deter them. Infact, they picked up even more speed, sprinting like a madman towards the door, their eyes now locked onto their target. Once in range, the two jumped, planting their feet firmly against the metal door before continuing their course upwards before dismounting with a flip, landing perfectly in front of their destination.

With a breathy giggle, the two looked around their surroundings once more, taking it in with as much clarity as they could; before them was a door, one with a heavy footprint etched deep into it, next to them - walls full filled with beautiful, aluminate crystals that now reflect the figure that stood before them, a new face that neither gem has seen before.

They started their gazing from the top of this new being set before them, the hairstyle being a lush head of dreadlocks that had an odd yet provocative design to them. They swirled with the colors of black and golden blonde, adding an interesting flare to their look. Next up was their face, a chiseled pointed chin with a tan, almost reddish complexion. Their nose was small and placed on said nose were Garnet's trademarked shades but with a few alterations to add a little diversity. They were tall, that much was obvious, taller than either Garnet or Naruto combined, they were lucky this part of the house was tall enough or they really would have been in trouble - wouldn't want Naruto's first experience as a fusion ending seconds before it began because they were stuck in a hallway. Back to their attire, it seemed to be a mix of the two's, Garnet's star - like, skin tight top covering their chest yet leaving their belly out on full display - it's star patterned now holding an orange star - Naruto's sleeveless overshirt was draped over them with a new red-orange type tinge to it. Their pants were simple, merely black the same color as the top with two reddish-orange stars placed on the kneecaps.

It was a striking image to say the least, one in which both members were quite pleased to see - there's nothing greater than to see the look of your fusion for the first time, it's an image that will stick with you for the rest of your life…..but, something was off. " **...No,"** the longer they stared at their image the harder it was to keep themselves together, something was happening to Naruto that was affecting their stability, " **Noooo! Get out! Get out! GET OUT! This isn't right, I won't let this happen! I'm me, I'm only me! I won't let you take me away!"** They howled, gripping the sides of their head tightly as their figure began to warp out of existence. " **AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Without warning, the two were separated, throwing them both to the ground. Garnet was the first to recover as she jumped to her feet to check on her friend. "Obsidian, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Said friend was splayed on the floor, his eyes glazed as they stared lifelessly towards the ceiling. "No...no, no, no - never again, I could feel it, it was- I can't do this again."

"Obsidian?" Garnet repeated, placing a hand on his chest, hoping to calm him down.

"No!" The gem jolted upwards, startling the leader of the group. Quickly he tries to compose himself, poorly, but at least he tried. "O-Oh….Garnet, I did…..see you there." He said breathlessly as if the wind was knocked from him.

"Do you have any idea what happened there, we fused for only a minute before it broke apart." She asked, hoping he could shed some light on the subject. She's never seen such a violent de-fusion, it was as if Naruto was physically trying to force them apart, almost like it was...hurting him.

"I-I don't know….I have no idea." He said almost as if he didn't even believe his own words. Obsidian was trying to hide something, Garnet could feel it, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Something seemed off, Garnet thought, as she began to pry a bit more towards what exactly happened. "Say, I thought you said you've never fused before,"

Naruto looked at her, his eyebrow cocked in confusion, "I haven't, why do you ask?"

"Our dance, you took it over as if it was second nature to you. Do you have any idea why?" She asked,

"...O-Oh, well, I just did what you told me...I let my feelings flow through me. Who knows, I might be a natural dancer." He stammered, unable to keep the base amount of eye contact with her. "L-Look, I just need to …..get some fresh air or something, whatever happened….i-it doesn't matter, alright? You were probably right, I was rushing too fast and wanted to see what this fusion thing was and probably got carried away. Sorry Garnet, I really messed up, but maybe we can do it some other time."

"Yeah...maybe next time" but he was already gone, jogging out of the crystal lined cave as if he needed to be somewhere. Soon, it was only Garnet in the weapon's vault, her and her thoughts. " _What the heck was that?"_ Ruby thought nervously, she'd never seen someone react to fusion like that. While fused, his form seemed so calm as if this was something natural to him, then it began to waver - shifting ever so slightly as they awakened their weapon together….but then something happened, she couldn't pin down what, it happened so fast that if you blinked you would have missed it - but something within him destabilized their state.

However, they really didn't wish to dwell on the subject too much, maybe it was just as simple as Obsidian said, he could have just rushed in too deep with fusion and he buckled under the pressure of it. Either way, standing around wouldn't help anything so, with a sigh, Garnet finished her job by storing away the massive axe and headed out towards the living room, only to be greeted by a surprising twist.

"What? Why is it so dark outside?" She asked, looking out the window to see the starry night and the full moon hanging overhead.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Garnet? You two were in their for hours," Amethyst clarified, jumping off the couch with a loud thud. "It's like 9 p.m., what the heck were you two doing in there anyway?"

"9 p.m.? No, that's impossible, we were only in there for three minutes." Garnet stated, quite sure of herself.

"Three minutes? Gurl, you two must have been having a great time in the weapons vault because you wasted half of the whole day! So much stuff happened," Amethyst answered with a snicker,

"Really?" Garnet questioned, getting a nod from her height inclined friend. "Like what?"

"Well, if you must know, Pearl started acting all strange like when we found Rose's scabbard on the battlefield, so, while I was in my room finding the perfect spot for my weapons and you two were doing...whatever you were doing in the weapons vault, Pearl took Steven to one of our other secret spots for our arsenal. However, she started wigging out when she realized she didn't know all that much about Rose as she thought she did, next thing you know, Steven's pulling Rose's sword out of Lion's freaking mane! It was amazing! But it turned not so amazing when Pearl began to flip about how she knew everything about Rose and she'd _never_ keep a secret from her. Yada, yada, yada, long story short, Steven and Pearl had a heart warming talk about who Steven's mother was to Pearl and how Steven loves Pearl just the way Rose did…..and I think that's about it,"

After Amethyst's long winded explanation, Garnet merely sighed before stating, "...I don't know why I asked you to tell me what happened, you've never been good at explanations."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm a great explainer. I told you the important details and skipped the boring in-between bits, that sounds perfect to me." Amethyst defended herself, a huff escaping her lips.

"Keep believing that," Garnet chuckled before she took the time to look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of her recent fusion partner. "You wouldn't have happened to see Obsidian come through here, would you?"

"Yeah, he walked outside a minute ago. He looked upset and I wanted to go but…." Amethyst trailed off, her eyes locked on the screen door Obsidian probably left by.

"But what?" She asked, goating Amethyst to continue.

She gripped her arm in a nervous stance as she continued, "well, I'm feeling like I'm _too_ attached to him, ya know? I feel like I should give him some time to himself, he's my best friend but that doesn't mean I should be with him 24/7. I asked him if he needed me and he said that he'll tell me all about it tonight but he needed some time alone first. So, I'll give it to him."

Garnet, seeing how hard it was for Amethyst to actually give someone she really cares about their space, smiled and placed a comforting hand on her head. "...That's very respectful and mature of you Amethyst, I'm proud of you."

"You think so?" Garnet nodded, getting a smile in return. "Awesome…..but, if you don't mind me asking what _were_ you two doing in their for so long anyway?"

Garnet stayed silent for a moment, weighing her options. Should she tell Amethyst about what happened in their or should she keep it a secret? Either way, Amethyst won't take the news well, so, might as well give her the truth. "...Well, long story short, we fused."

The room ran cold and silent as both Garnet and Amethyst stared at one another, one with a detached gaze, while another looked on with shock and awe, plastered over her face. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Amethyst yelled, a very loud response from a very loud girl. "Yo-you-y-you two fused!"

"Yep," Garnet answered curtly; she had to admit, Amethyst's reaction was kinda fun.

"No, no, no! That's not fair, not one single bit!" Amethyst hissed, her tone was seeping with jealousy and I suppose she has every right to be. Ruby would have felt the same way if someone else had taken Sapphires first fusion. "You can't take his first time from me! I lov-...I-I mean we're best friends! His first time should have been with me!"

"Well, why didn't you ask me to fuse with you before I did?" Garnet asked a solid question that Amethyst was not prepared for.

"...I-I-I was working on it, I was going to ask him any day now!" She fired back, but her argument just didn't' seem to have enough evidence to back it up.

Garnet chuckled at that, her flustered appearance seemed more comical than actually upset. "Then I guess I have beaten you to the punch then because I asked him a week ago."

"A freaking week?!" Amethyst nearly exploded at that revelation, how could she have been so behind?! I guess when you think no one else was after your crush you feel like you have all the time in the world, you have no idea someone else is behind you, prepared to do what you're too nervous to do.

"Yep," Garnet repeated. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get some rest - today was a long one."

"Oh no, you don't, you can't get away from me that easily!" But Amethyst's decree fell on deaf ears as Garnet turned and started towards her bedroom, quickly followed by the still raging gem. "Garnet! Stop ignoring me! We're gonna talk about this weather you like it or not!"

Now outside, the young blonde has taken his spot on the porch, leaning over it as he stares at the ocean blue - it's heavy waves crashing against the beach, the sound calming to the racing mind of one Obsidian. "It's a beautiful sight, isn't it?" A voice spoke up, catching Obsidian's attention.

"Hmm?" He looked up to find Pearl now perched on the roof, her light colored outfight standing out against the darkened sky. "Pearl, what are you doing out here?"

"I could be asking you the same question." Retorted Pearl, her feet now dangling off the side of their home. Though her sentence seemed playful, Obsidian could tell by the way she looked that she was feeling far from playful.

"...I needed some fresh air," he answered back, turning back to the view Pearl mentioned not moments ago.

"Staying in that weapons vault all day can make you pine for the fresh saltwater air, I suppose." Pearl chuckled dryly, one of the few times Obsidian's actually heard such a thing; it was nic to here.

"And you? Why are you out here?" He questioned,

"While you and Garnet were busy, I had a little adventure of my own, one that's been long overdue," Pearl explained, before a sigh left her lips. "Well, I guess I couldn't call what's happened today an adventure, more like a discovery that needed to be discovered."

While Pearl began her story, Naruto took it upon himself to get closer to her. So, without much warning, Naruto jumped from his position and landed softly next to her, "what did you discover?" He asked,

"Oh, you don't want to hear about it, it's rather boring." She bashfully stated,

"I've never had a discovery yet that doesn't have a little bit of excitement." So, with a little more prodding by Naruto, she finally told him, taking him through her day one step at a time, describing it as only Pearl could - accurate and long winded - but it didn't seem to faze him. Maybe it was the night sky or the cooling breeze or perhaps it was because he wanted to take his mind off what happened to him in there but the way she described her day didn't bother him. In fact, he downright enjoyed it, listening with a smile on his face and nodding all the while.

"After that, I spent the rest of the day telling Steven all about the Gem War's illustrious history, giving demonstrations and we even retrieved one of the tattered flags of our people…..today was a humbling experience for me." Her story finally came to a closer, her tone far more somber and melancholy than before. "At one time I thought I knew every single thing about Rose, but today flipped everything I knew on its head. What hasn't she told me? There must be countless secrets that she kept hidden from me for all these years and I fooled myself into believing that Rose could never keep a secret from me."

"I wonder how Steven reacted to this," Obsidian added,

"Oh, Steven must have thought I was a complete lunatic today." She moaned painfully, burying her face into her hands with a sigh. "Running around, muttering nonsense, and even almost letting him fall to his doom just because...I couldn't handle learning something like this."

Obsidian looked to the sky as he states, "well, love can do that to a person."

"L-Love?" Pearl questioned nervously,

"Don't pretend, Pearl, even I can tell that you had some deep rooted feelings for Rose other than respect and admiration." He stated matter of factly, leaving Pearl little room to deny. "I hate to admit it but I know how you feel,"

"You do?" Pearl asked, a doubtful tone clear as day in her voice. "With all do respect, how could you possibly know how it feels-"

"To give your heart and soul to another only to watch them time and time again choose another, leaving you behind to pick up the piece of your broken heart?" Obsidian answered with a somber tone that rivaled Pearls. "I know far more than you think I do on the subject of unrequited love."

"But how would you? Did you find a Homeworld gem or something?" Asked Pearl, still a bit skeptical of his claim.

"...I've only told this to Amethyst, you'll be the second person I've met that I trust enough to intrust my story too." He said, his face bore a serious expression, on in which Pearl has never seen before. "Before I tell you, I need you to promise to keep an open mind and to understand what I'm about to tell you is the truth."

"I'll try,"

"That's all I can ask for." Just as Pearl explained her story to him, so did Obsidian to her. From the moment he was placed in suspended animation to everything afterwards, and to say it left Pearl speechless would be an understatement. "So, that's my tale. I woke up on Homeworld, being pulled out of the suspended animation I was placed in and I realized that everything I felt and everything I had been through was nothing more than an illusion, but an illusion that still seemed so real. Even today, the feelings I had thousands of years ago still feel raw and very much apparent."

"What you told me aside, what does this have to do with you understanding my pain." She asked,

"Because in this world of illusions I was in love with a pink haired girl just like you, her name was Sakura Haruno and I was enchanted with her. I tried my hardest to gain her affections, I'd push my body to the limit, I'd protect her from all harm, I'd even profess my love to her every day by asking her out - but it never happened, another had her eye." He explained, his very face spoke volumes of his emotional state right now. To him, reliving this illusionary concept was just as painful as if it were real life. "My rival, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura had fallen for him long before I was in the picture and she refused to see anyone other than him, no matter how many times he'd turn her down or insult her. Soon, when he defected from our village, Sasuke even went as far as to try and kill her but her love for him never wavered and that was the moment I realized that I had lost her. Regardless of what I do, she'd always love him - she'd always rush back to him without a second thought. So yes, Pearl, I understand how you feel for Rose. You watch over and protect the one you love and yet the find that same love in another, it's painful."

"...I guess you do understand my pain," she nodded, though she doesn't fully grasp what this dream world truly was, she could tell just by the way he explained this to her that they share the same feelings for someone else only to watch them disregard them in search for another. "But I don't want to feel this pain anymore, it's been years now and yet I still feel it as if it were yesterday. I hate this feeling, I hate that I _have_ to feel this."

"You don't have to , Pearl." Obsidian stated, "there's always another option."

"Like what?" She wondered aloud,

Obsidian looked to her, his eyes filled with truth. "Move on, find something or someone else to help mend your broken heart."

"Were you able to?" She asked,

A sigh escaped his lips, "no, I was pulled from my illusion before I ever could. I supposedly died before I could find closure, but you can."

She thought on this, her mind was not a place to be right now, full of memories of her wonderful times with her Rose, keeping her from truly finding her own form of closure. "...I don't know, I don't think I could love someone as much as I loved her."

"Well...you have Steven, you have Garnet and Amethyst too…..and you've got me as well,"

"Y-You?" She asked, shocked that he'd even say he'd be there for her, and she could honestly say she probably wouldn't have done the same.

"Of course, I was told I was going to be a Crystal Gem, right? Well, that means I need to be there for my teammates, that includes you." Naruto wrapped an arm around Pearl and pulls her closer, pressing his body against hers. "If you need to talk to someone who'd understand what you're going through, please, feel free to ask. I'll always be here for you Pearl,"

Those words, those simple words seemed so insignificant to the untrained eye - a mere comforting phrase you'd say to a loved one or friend who needed you in that moment, nothing more nothing less, but to Pearl it meant the world. Those were the words that pushed her to be by Rose's side, knowing she'd always be there by hers, prepared to fight and to fall alongside her. What Obsidian said...it meant much more than just words, it was an oath. "..T-Thank you, Obsidian. That means a lot to me,"

"There's no need to thank me, you'd do the same thing for me if I were in your shoes." He said, his usual optimism shining through.

" _No, Obsidian, that's the thing that makes this moment so special - you were here for me in my toughest time and instead of patronizing more or pretending to care, you offered to help me and to be a sympathetic ear for me in the future...I don't think I'd do that for you. What you did today….that's exactly what Rose would do."_ _o."_

 ** _Thank you all so much for reading my story, the reviews have been great and the more I get the more I feel energized to continue forward with this story. You all are wonderful and I can't wait to see what you guys think about this chapter and as always, if you have any questions or just want to tell me how you felt about this upload, please, feel free to PM me or write a review. Alucard1959, out!_**


	12. Behind the Veil pt 1

**Chapter 9**

 **Behind the Veil pt. 1: The Battle for Earth!**

 **I own Nothing**

It was another calm and collected day in Beach City, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and so far, not a single monster attack or strange incident has happened today, freeing up Steven to have a nice day with his father. "A Peedee, give me some fry bi-" Steven was prepared to chant only to have Peedee, drop exactly what Steven wanted in front of him, a nice bag of fry bits. "Oh, thanks, how'd you know?"

"Eh, I saw you two coming, thought I'd be one step ahead of you this time." The youngest of the fryman family, Peedee, said as he buffed a spot out on the countertop with a damp rag.

"Are you closing up all by yourself?" Greg asked, looking behind Peedee to see no other member of the Fryman clan in the building.

"Yeah, It's just me tonight." He said nonchalantly, almost as if he's done this a thousand times before.

"Wow, that's a lot of responsibility for a kid your age," Greg commented with a smile. "Hey, your dad must really trust you."

"Don't patronize me, sir." With that, the two universes were off down the beach with their delectable treats in hand.

"See ya, Peedee!" Steven waved, his manners still as refreshing as ever. Once his goodbyes were said, Steven continued getting his father up to date about what's been going on the past few weeks. "So, like I was saying, Peridot's been shooting huge robots here from space. And when you smash them, they explode into goo." Steven chuckled, chucking another handful of fry bits into his mouth, enjoying the crunch of his favorite snack.

Greg, the 'wise' parent he was, held a nervous grin to what his son has just told him like most parents would. "That sounds scary." He said, "you know, I'm not sure if…." He stopped, trying to find the proper words for what he was about to say, "do you ever feel like this gem stuff is too much for you?"

But, Steven's innocent mind didn't really follow, "what do you -" However, his retort was silence by an ear piercing sound that shook the very foundation of beach city, cracking if not all out destroying any glass in a 100 yard radius of the sound. Reeling from the unforeseen sound wave, Steven looked to find what could have caused such an assault on the ears only to find one possible source, a floating, golden hand - pointing down towards the denizens of Beach City.

"W-What the hey was that?!" Greg questioned, but didn't hear a response. He looked to his son to find him staring to the sky, his eyes unwilling to move from that spot, "Steven?" He asked,

"Is that a hand?"

"The light cannons should be ready."

"Guys!" Steven yelled, running down the beach as fast as his stubby little lges could carry him. "Did you see that thing in the sky?"

"It's a ship. We have to assume it's Peridot." Pearl stated, peering through the telescope to get a better look at the massive, robotic hand now descending towards their city.

"It's happening," Greg mumbled

Steven was about to ask something else only to be stopped when he noticed they were down a member, "hey, where's Naruto?"

"We don't know, while we were setting up our defenses for what's about to happen, he disappeared." Pearl explained with a sigh, what is with that gem and dissappearing when they need him the most? "We didn't have time to look for him, we needed to get these light cannons up and running before that ship lands."

"We don't have much time to waste, ready the light cannons!" And so, Amethyst pushes the final light cannon into place while they hand a single walky talky to Steven. "Steven, light'em up."

"If every pork chop was perfect…..we wouldn't have hotdogs," The four light cannons blossomed in perfect unison and fired their payload, aimed straight for their intended target; the forming of their beams was a beautiful sight to behold….but it wasn't enough to stop such a massive ship. With a single shift, the ship blocked the heavy cannon fire with ease, not even leaving a dent on its palm as it shifted back to it's pointing position; it's speed unhampered.

"No effect," Garnet said, holding the telescope to her eye.

"What now?" Greg wondered aloud,

"We'll have to take them head on. The whole town might be in danger," stated Garnet,

Something clicked in Steven's mind. "Wait, maybe Naruto might have some idea to stop this thing."

Pearl said, "right now what's more important is protecting the city."

"I know, and I can make a call that will make sure the city is safe, but we might need Naruto in this fight. He knows Peridot and this Jasper person; if anyone can bring them down, it's Naruto." Steven said

"...He's right," Garnet agreed, "we can't lose him, not now."

Amethyst nodded, "yeah, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Very well, but Steven, you need to make that call first. Evacuating the town is our top priority." Pearl stated sternly, Naruto may be a helpful addition but he was not above the safety of the city. After Steven got on the horn with Mayor Dewey Steven stormed the beach until he got back home, the first place he needed to look to find Obsidian.

"NARUTO!" Steven yelled, barging through the screen door of his home before quickly going on the search, rummaging through room after room to try and find him. "Oh man, where could he be? This is no time for him to go disappearing on us again. NARUTO! Come on out, we need you!" Pearl's room? Empty. Garnet's room? Nothing. AMethyst's room? A lot of stuff, but not Obsidian. Living room, kitchen, fridge, freezer, his room, his drawers - all of these rooms and more were completely void of Naruto. "Guys, I can't find Naruto anywhe-" Steven's decree was cut short when he noticed the shadow of a standing figure displayed across the sandy beach. He looked up high where the shadow originated to find none other than the gem he was looking for, his eyes locked on the thing that's caused Steven so much fright. High in the sky rested a gigantic floating hand, it's index finger stretched out towards the earth.

"They're here," he whispered, his fist clenched tightly as a scowl etched itself across his features and yet, if you looked closely, deep within his baby blues, you could see a hint of fear for what was to come. " _Why are they here so soon, I thought we'd have more time. Steven's not ready to face a gem like Jasper, none of them are….am I even ready to face her?...I don't know what I need to do, tell me something, Naruto, give me something!"_ But nothing accompanied his plea, a silence was what greeted him, something that's never happened before. " _...Naruto?"_

"NARUTO!" A faint voice called out to him, he looked down to see the tiny speck that was Steven waving his hands in the air, hoping to catch his attention.

"Steven?" With a quick jump, Naruto landed on the sandy shores of the beach, right next to Steven who seemed scared stiff about what was happening. "What's up, Steven? What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?! There's a massive golden hand pointing at Beach City, and then you suddenly up and disappear again! What do you think is the matter?" Steven comically yelled, he wouldn't be surprised if Steven's head had grown just to add a bit more to his sentence. However, even though Steven looked cute when he was mad, Naruto knew that Steven was actually worried for his teacher, and for that, he was sorry.

"Oh, I didn't mean to worry you, Steven. It's just….." Naruto trailed off, stealing one more glacne towards the hand.

"Why were you even up there in the first place?" Steven sighed, still a bit peeved at his teacher for leaving in such a mysterious way.

"...I needed to get a closer look at that thing," he said cryptically. "Peridot and Jasper are on the ship, I can feel it….."

"Naruto, are you gonna be okay?" Steven asked, following Naruto's gaze up to the ship still falling from the sky.

Naruto nodded, "...yeah, Steven, I'll be fine. Right now we need to worry about clearing this place of civilians, Jasper's not someone who cares about casualties."

"Don't worry, I've got my contact on that." Steven points over to the dinky little mayor on his rather egotistical little van talking to his people about evacuation. It was a good start, but Obsidian knew that it probably wouldn't be enough. Looking at the sweating face of their supposed Mayor, he knew the people of Beach City wouldn't leave their homes and their livelihoods for this man, no, they'd only leave if their was a truly kind and sympathetic voice leading them, one like Stevens, but it seemed like the Crystal Gems had already beaten him to the punch. Loading all of Steven and Greg's stuff into the back of Mr. Universe's van, the group stopped when they saw Steven's confused face.

"Oh, that's a great idea, dad. You should leave with the rest of-" His words soon stopped when he noticed his hamburger bag leaning against the van; they were expecting him to leave as well. "I-Is that my luggage?"

"Uh…" Both Greg and Pearl both muttered, "who wants to tell him?" Greg, Pearl, and Amethyst shrunk at such responsibility, leaving only Obsidian and Garnet to break the news to the poor boy.

"Steven, I know you don't think we trust you. I know more often than not, we treat you like a human child. But the truth is we rely on you." She hands him a megaphone, "your voice inspires us, binds us, reminds us why we promised to protect the planet. You must now be that voice...for them." She turns Steven, pointing him in the direction of his people who looked terrified of what was to come. "If anything happens, you need to be there to protect them, like your mother once did. It's your destiny."

Steven paused, fighting back the tears that threatened to pour from his eyes. "...B-But Garnet, what about you guys? Why can't I…..Why can't I protect you guys as well, you're my family."

"Steven," Naruto began, kneeling to Steven's height"I swear to you from the very depths of my soul, I will protect your family in your absence. I won't let these homeworld gems lay a finger on them, even if it takes every last ounce of my being to do so, I give you my word."

"...Do you promise?"

An all knowing smirk perched onto Naruto's lips as he gives his young protoshe a thumbs up, "it's a promise of a lifetime, and I never go back on my promises." Naruto said, placing a comforting hand on his apprentice's shoulder. "Now, get out their and protect your people, Steven!"

"I will," Steven nodded, wiping his tears off on his shirt sleeve. "I promise, I won't disappoint you two!"

"We know," with that, Steven jumps into his dad's van and heads out to help his people evacuate, leaving behind the only family he's ever known to deal with an unknown threat. "We did everything we could." Garnet said as the group watches Steven's van leave the beach.

"Hopefully we can buy them some more time." Obsidian sighed as he sees the tail lights disappear into the distance. " _As I said, Steven, you will have your chance to shine one day. Sadly, today is not that day,"_

"Alright, pull it together. We're free of any civilians, this is the time we need to focus the most." Garnet stated, just like a true leader would in such a situation. "Obsidian, you know what we're going up against, do you have any advice?"

Obsidian paused, taking in the image of the descending ship one last time before he spoke. "...Bring everything you have to this fight, because if you don't, Jasper will not take pity on you."

"Noted," Garnet nodded before turning to others. "Pearl, Amethyst - let's try to take this ship down with Opal's arrow barrage,"

"Right,"

"On it,"

As decreed by the shaded leader, Pearl and Amethyst began their fusion dance, something that Obsidian has the displeasure of not seeing until today. Just a few days prior he was lucky enough to do his own fusion dance but he was more focused on himself and his partner, he wasn't able to see how a fusion dance would look to a passerby and from what he could tell, both of them had a far different dancing style. Pearl was far more elegant yet it felt routine, rather boring if you asked him but Amethyst on the other hand held a more aggressive, unscripted dance that flowed from her core as if each time she danced it was slightly different. However, before Obsidian could analyze their dance styles any further, they had already come together to form their fusion, and Obsidian would be lying if he said that what he saw next didn't shock him.

Opal, now fully formed before her team, standing with her new bright-periwinkle skin, and thick, wavy, off-white hair. Her hair extends slightly past her calves, tied back into a rowdy ponytail. Extending from off the sides of the ponytail are two small pigtails in the front and chin-length bangs, which resembled Pearl's. Opal has a lean, toned body with two pairs of slender arms. Her face is thin and rounded, inheriting Pearl's pointed nose and Amethyst's plump lips. Her height surprised Obsidian, being at least twice as tall as Garnet. Her outfit consists of a fuchsia, knee-length leggings with pale-violet cuffs rolled up, and yellow flat boots.

Her visage was...striking to say the least.

Something deep inside Obsidian seemed to click just a little as he watched this magnificent fusion call upon the weapons of her two halves, Pearl's spear and Amethyst whip before bring them together to form a decorated bow. He'd never admit it out loud, but just then as he gazed at this union of his childhood friend and a respected member of the Crystal Gems, he felt his non-existent heart skip a beat.

He'd might be so bold as to say he's…. _infatuated_ with Opal's visage.

"Fire!" Garnet yelled just as the ship came in range of Opal's firing capacity.

" **Right,"** Opal answered, taking in a deep breath, " **release!"** And just as she commanded, she relinquished the bow string, sending her energy arrow towards the descending ship in the sky. Once in range of the ship, the arrow separated into a barrage of smaller arrows, going for the quantity over quality approach to hopefully leave some form of impact against their enemies - unfortunately, they weren't so lucky. The attacks glanced off the hull, leaving mere scraps compared to what the gems wished it would leave - but the didn't have time to get upset about their failed second attempt to harm this hand in the sky, because said hand had decided to go on the offensive for once.

Stretching out one of it's many digits towards the beach, it began to collect a devastating amount of energy on the tip of it's outstretched digit, this hellish green orb of destruction was pointed at non other than Opal. Opal's eyes widened along with the others, each feeling worried for their own safety - what would this blast do? Is it powerful enough to wipe beach city off the map? Who knows, all they could guess is that whenever that attacks is fully charged, they'd be it's main targets.

As the others seemed to wait for the inevitable, Obsidian began to conjure up a plan that could possibly buy them and this city more time. Revelation hit him as he jumped into action without a second's hesitation putting himself between Opal and the massive floating hand in the sky. It was such a strange action to the remaining gems, what was he doing? Was he prepared to protect Opal and the others with his own body? That's very heroic, but they knew it wouldn't stop the blast from wreaking havoc on them and the city they so cherish.

But, all of their questions were laid to rest when Obsidian spoke to the ship. "Jasper! Peridot! I'm right here, if you want me, come get me, but if you fire that now I'll be lost forever! And I don't think you'd want that, would you Jasper?!"

" **Obsidian, what are you doing?!"** Opal asked, concerned for what her friend/secret crush was propositioning.

"I'm doing what I can to make sure that Jasper doesn't blow this place to kingdom come. She won't let me be destroyed, I'm too valuable to her." And in a few moments his words were validated as the gems witnessed the growing orb of energy slowly dissipate, leaving behind a few specks of light. However, once said energy had dissipated the ship began picking up speed, making a bee-line to the shore of Beach City.

"Could you reason with her, Obsidian?" Garnet asked, a rather optimistic question for the usual stoic of the group, but even she was willing to go with any and all options at this point if it ment the world and her firends were safe.

"...A long time ago I believe I could, but now….she's too far gone." Obsidian answered rather cryptically, at this point he'd rather now dive into his past memories, they'd onl throw him off the task at hand.

That statement made the fusion rather curious, " **what caused her to turn this way?"**

"...Me,"

While the gems dealt with the problem at hand, Steven could only set in his father's van, watching from the passenger window as the hand in the sky began to descend faster and faster as time moved on. "Maybe when Peridot gets to earth, she'll see how nice all the people are and she won't want to hurt anyone." Steven stated, his heart racing at the idea of what might happen to his friends but he knew he needed to steel himself in the moment, his town needs him, he needed to be strong, and besides, Obsidian won't let his family be hurt, he promised.

"Just like your mother." Greg said, a fond gleem shimmering in his eyes.

"Yeah?" Steven questioned, squeezing slightly on the megaphone he had placed on his lap.

"Yeah," Greg answered with a smile, hiding his true concern that plagued his heart for the world he calls home. "But these other gems aren't like your mother. They're not like Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl. They're not gonna start caring about people now." He explained, his father like facade falling the more he discussed such things. He was terrified, absolutely terrified; the stories told to him by Rose, Garnet, and even Pearl would cause anyone to be. "...They didn't the first time they…" a pause hung over the van as Steven looked to his father, Greg's face dotted with perspiration - did he truly just say that out loud?

"The first time they what?" Steven asked,

"...I mean, it was thousands of years ago. It's - it's not like I was there." Hearing his father's reservations made Steven want to know even more, he leaned in and widened his eyes, prepared for his father to continue. "The gems should be telling you all this stuff, but I get it." Greg sighed, scratching his balding head as he tried to think of a way to put this delicately for his son. "I mean, they don't want you thinking of them like that."

"Like what?" Steven questioned, visibly worried about his father was about to discuss. Greg gritted his teeth and tightened his grip against the steering wheel, debating weather or not to continue down this path, was it his place to tell him? Would Steven's view of his loved ones change if he knew? "Dad, like what?"

And with that, Greg snapped, he couldn't keep silent any longer. "Like aliens, Steven! Aliens who invaded earth!"

"What?" Steven questioned nervously,

"All they do is try to make up for it, but the just can't forgive themselves. Do you understand?" Steven sat still, his eyes now glued to the dashboard in thought. Greg sighed, "look, they were doing something awful to the planet, and your mother couldn't stand it anymore. She told me that's why she had to turn on her own kind. She gave up everything just to stop what they started here and drive the invading gems off of earth."

Images flashed before Steven's very eyes, replaying all the times he's seen the damage the homeworld gems caused this planet and yet, at the time, it seemed Steven merely glossed over them as if they were just interesting little tidbits. Now, the veil has been lifted for Steven, the war that happened on earth, the Kindergarten, all of it - it was interesting or neat or even amazing, it was just what it's called, war. "So, sh-she saved the world. That's good!" Steven said, but his tone betrayed him; his statement sounded more like a question.

"Uh, no such thing as a good war, kiddo. Gems were destroyed. People, too. In the end, your mother could only save a handful of her closest friends. If it weren't for her shield - man, I don't know." Greg looked to his son, seeing how dejected and saddened he was by this whole thing. What type of father would do that, he must have thought. "Bu-but hey," he started, trying to change the topic, "let's look on the bright side. We're gonna drive by that waffle place in a couple of miles."

But steven wasn't having it, he couldn't abandon his friends, not now, not when they'd need his mother's shield the most. "We got to go back! Turn the van around!"

"No way!" Yelled Greg, his hair standing on end at his son's demands. "The gems don't want you going back."

"I know they're just trying to protect me, but I have to protect them! I have mom's shield, they need me!" begged Steven, his face wet with tears.

"I need you, too!"

"Please, dad what if they get hurt?!" Greg didn't answer, refusing to meet his son's gaze - electing to just keep his eyes on the road. "Dad, turn around." Steven begged, gripping his father's jacket in hopes of getting his attention, but it was no use, Greg couldn't bare letting his son risk his life. "Dad! Turn the van around, please!" His words now ignored, Steven, in a fit of rage did the unthinkable, he smashed his fist into the dashboard, breaking the glove box in half. However, Steven wasn't prepared for what was about to transpire next. The car's airbag fired off, squeezing Steven from the car to the outside and with one quick moment, Steven bubbled himself, allowing himself to fall to the ground peacefully as his father's van came to a screeching halt.

"Steven!" Greg yelled, rushing to his son's aid.

"Hey Greg, are you and Steven okay?" Soon, the whole town of beach city began to surround the two, worried for their safety.

"Yeah, we're fine," he sighed, he's never been this stressed before in his life.

"Dad, please, I have to go back." "They don't have my shield. Do you - do you understand?" tears now streaming for the poor boy's face, Greg knew what needed to be done, he didn't like it nor did he want it but this was no long about what he wanted.

"Yeah, I do." He said, his hand placed on his growing boy's shoulder. "Just...be careful or I'm gonna run fresh out of family." He wiped a tear for his boy's eye, such an emotional boy he was - he got that from him.

"Stay with everyone and keep them safe. I'll figure out some way to get back to beach city," Steven stated, his determination now at an all time high only to feel a soft weight land on his afro. It was lion, prepared to take Steven back into the fray. "Oh, this'll work!" And with a little lift from his father, Steven was on Lion, rushing towards his destination at a quick pace. However, before he was even out of sight of the Beach City residence, he remembered he had something that he needed to do. Quickly, he whipped out his phone and called a certain someone, his expression filled with worry. "Come on," he moaned, hoping someone, anyone would pick up - but sadly he was faced with yet another answering machine, leaving another burden on his shoulders. He did as the machine told him to do before Lion let out a mighty sonic roar, ripping a hole through the fabric of space and time, giving them the perfect leap they needed to end up right on the battlefield.

"Stay here, if something happens, dad will need a new son." Steven stated to Lion, dismounting his furry companion before heading straight for his friends.

Steven soon ran onto the scene to see the final few moments of the ship's descent, his family standing there on the shore of the beach, a defeated look etched into each face. "At least Steven is safe."

"Hey, guys!"

"Steven!" The mere shock Steven still being around during such a dangerous situation caused Opal to separate back into their original form, Pearl landing on the soft sand while Amethyst fell into the arms of Obsidian - to her never ending enjoyment.

"You came back!" Amethyst yelled, quickly remembering the seriousness of the situation as she kicked out of Obsidian's warming embrace, though, deep down, she wanted to stay in them for a bit longer if she could have.

"What are you doing?!" Pearl yelled, terrified of steven's return. The whole reason they shipped him off with his father was to protect him, and yet here he is in harm's way, just like they didn't want him to be. "Get out of here!"

"But -"

"It's too late," Both Garnet and Obsidian yelled as the noticed just how close the ship was, "just stay behind us."

"Steven! Listen to her! We'll protect you with everything we've got!" And just as Obsidian demanded Steven to do so, the hand finally landed, hovering over the ocean with the grace and procession a ship like that should never have. The ship soon flipped, revealing it's open palm to the group as it's fingers acted as ramps to the sandy beach below it. Once the sand settled, an orb appeared in the palm of this ships hand as it made it's way down the palm and to the first digit.

The more it moved the more unnerved the gems became, especially Obsidian. As he watched the orb make it's way to the tip of the pointer finger a lump caught in his throat, he couldn't speak, he couldn't even move - all he could do was tighten his grip on his scythe for dear life and hope that he can pull of a miracle.

The ball dissolved, revealing three gem forms before them, two of them were all too familiar for Obsidian, dangerously familiar. The index finger they stood upon lowered, allowing the three homeworld gems to step down onto the awaiting sand below them; the crystal gems now visible tightening up for a surprise attack.

"There they are, these are those gems I told you about that have allied themselves with Obsidian." Peridot stated, leveling a finger towards the three individual gems in question. However, Jasper didn't seem to register those supposed gems yet, her eyes were locked on her long lost comrade, _her_ Obsidian.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day," said Jasper, her words sending a shiver down Obsidian's spine. "All those years of searching, all those years of planning and I find you on this dirt ball of a planet with a defective runt, a common pearl, and a disgusting display."

"Peridot, Jasper, this is between you and me, leave them out of this."

"Humph, I say we get rid of these plebs first, then we drag back Obsidian to homeworld." Peridot stated, but it didn't' seem like Jasper was listening, she was too focused on the gem standing before her.

"Is that all you've got to say to me? After all these years apart, did you even miss me?" she asked with a chuckle, her beefy arms now folded under her chest, a smug smile raising across her features.

"This isn't a game," Naruto stated sternly, leveling a glare towards Jasper.

"Obsidian," Steven whispered, pointing towards the blue haired gem standing nervously next to Jasper. "look, they have Lapis! We have to save her,"

"We need to focus on the task at hand, Steven. Right now, my top priority is to protect you, the gems, and this world. Lapis will have to wait," Naruto said, he felt bad for having to be so blunt but right now was no time for worrying about another foreign gem.

"But-"

Jasper's patients was running thin, she had not time to talk, all she desired was to take back what was hers. "You're right, Obsidian, this isn't some game. You've done the unthinkable and now I'm here to bring you back to your senses, to bring you back to who you truly are. So, before this continues any further, I'll give you one chance to spare yourself some pain; step aside and you won't be harmed."

"...If I did, could you guarantee me that you won't hurt these gems or this planet?"

" _Obsidian, no, don't you dare try to sacrifice yourself for us!"_

Jasper chuckled, "you know my answer. Not only are they defectors of the Homeworld, but they've also done something punishable by death. They tried to take you away from me,"

"I am not some object for you to own, Jasper!" He declared, finding her statement to be aggravating, for lack of a better term. "But fine, if you're unwilling to stand down, then I must stand against you! I won't let you hurt my friends or this planet,"

"Friends…." she grunted, her smug smile now replaced with a menacing snarl. "So, that's how it's going to be, right? You've abandoned me and your duties for these rejects….fine then, I guess I'll just have to beat some sense into you!"

"You need to leave, immediately!" Garnet stated firmly, taking her stance against this new threat.

"Yeah, Step off!" Amethyst growled, pulling her whip taught.

"This is not a gem-controlled planet anymore. You have no claim to this world or any gem inhabiting it, that includes Obsidian," Pearl fired off, standing proud with her teammates next to her.

"...So, this is all you have to go up against me, Obsidian? The left over gems of Rose Quartz's resistance?" "Some lost, defective pearl, a puny, overcooked runt, and this shameless display? I expected more….hmm? What is that?" SHe questioned, pointing a gloved digit towards the undefined gem of the group, Steven, who was peering from behind Naruto's pant leg.

Each crystal gem tensed, prepared to protect Steven from any onslaught from Jasper. Lapis looked afraid for Steven, hoping that maybe, just maybe Jasper would live at least Steven alone in this fight. However, that wasn't the case as Peridot decided to chime in, "it calls itself the Steven."

"He's just a human. He isn't a threat at all. He - he's not one of them."

"Heh, this makes this pathetic team of yours even more saddening, Obsidian." "You're allowing a lowly human to fight alongside you. How the mighty have fallen," "Alright then, seeing as you've refused my generosity, I guess I have no choice to take matters into my own hands. Peridot,"

"Y-Yes, Jasper?"

"Call in two of your Robonoids, I want them to deal with the rejects. Obsidian is mine,"

"Very well, calling out battle Robonoids."

As the orb like machines made there way out of the ship, Garnet turned to his apprentice with a stern look and said, "Steven, get out of here." Her words were stern, there was no humor or leeway in her statement, this wasn't a joke nor a game to her.

"Huh? But, wh-" Steven tried to defend his reasoning for being her but the team wasn't having it.

"We're serious, Steven, this isn't a place for you to be right now. Go inside and wait until this is settled," something Steven's never seen appeared upon Obsidian features, it was fear. He knew what was about to come, a battle of a titanic force clashing against the last resistance this earth has, and he wasn't sure which would fair better in such a fight so all he could do was hope that he could save at least one of his friends from this battle, that friend being Steven.

"He's right Steven, leave us." Pearl stated, gripping her weapon tightly as she looked onward towards her enemies preparing for battle.

"No," Steven definitely stated, planting his feet firm in the sand.

"I won't let you risk your life!" Garnet yelled, raising her voice for the first time towards her beloved Steven, at least Obsidian believes that to be true.

"But this is my home, and you're all my family!" Their dispute was short lived as the Robonoids called upon by Peridot were already set to attack moments after the command was made. Once her backup was ready, Jasper disrobed, letting the heavy garment crash against the beach surface with a thud. With a pop of her neck she summoned her weapon, a battering ram helmet, a weapon that was all too familiar to Obsidian. He's watched Jasper decimate thousands of people, creatures, and other gems with that thing, he never thought in a million years that such a brutal weapon would have been turned towards him.

"Let's finish this, once and for all, Obsidian!" And with that, regardless of if the Crystal Gems were ready for something like this or not, the battle began - Jasper rushed forth to meet the gems head on along side the two Robonoids taking up her flank, controlled by none other than the tech savvy gem, Peridot.

"We don't have time to argue! Amethyst, please, take Steven away from here while we hold them off!" Naruto ordered, summoning his weapon of choice without warning. Any second with Jasper in battle is a struggle, if you are even a second slower than her you've given her an opening that she won't hesitate to take; Naruto refused to give her such an opening.

"No," Amethyst denied outright, "I won't leave you behind to face this monster! You'll need all the help you can get,"

"We can't let Jasper take Steven, just do it!" Obsidian was growing anxious, the closer the stappeding Jasper came to them the more worried he grew. Doubt began to creep into the forefront of his mind, he's grown weak of the years while Jasper has done nothing but hunt him down and train to bring him back someday, maybe she is beyond his strength, maybe she's grown too much, maybe…..he couldn't think like that right now, his enemy was baring down on him right now and he needed to focus. So, with a heavy breath, he stated firmly, "I'll be fine…..I know for certain that she won't shatter me,"

Amethyst looked a bit uneasy about leaving her friends behind but reluctantly said, "...Promise me that you will stay safe,"

"Amethyst, I-" Obsidian began, but Amethyst refused to hear any excuses.

"Promise me!" She ordered,

Time was not on their side right now, so he thought it'd be best for her to just hear what she needed to hear. "...Alright, now go!"

With a nod, Amethyst went to get Steven, prepared to protect him with her life. "Come on Steven, let's get you outta he-" She reached out to grab his hand and lead him away from the battlefield but Steven was too quick.

"No, I won't run! My family, the people that mean the most to me are in danger, I can't just sit around and let you protect me!" Bravely, Steven rushed past Amethyst, prepared to defend his family with his life just as they were prepared to do the same. "I'm - I'm a crystal gem too!" As Jasper and her Robonoids came into range, her head now cocked back to deliver a hellish attack, Steven's gem began to glow. Before anyone could do anything to stop this display, Steven's shield appeared, this time larger than ever before, just in time for Jasper and her robotic sphere's to colloid with said shield.

The clash was hellish, cracking the very shield that blocked their path - but, with one mighty shove, Steven sent the opposition back, Shoving Jasper a few feet away while the Robonoids rolled to a stop next to her. The Gems were astounded with Steven's show of strength, but were immediately worried when the young boy dropped to his knees, overwhelmed by the excursion on his body in such a short amount of time.

"That shield, that symbol!" Jasper gasped as the shield in question began to dissipate, giving Jasper the opening she desired. "Peridot, send your Robonoids to take on the stragglers!"

"Yes, Jasper!" Peridot answered, sending her robotic minions to do her bedding. As Steven laid defenseless against the sand Obsidian kneeling next to him, his family were now targets of the homeworld gem's next attack. Thinking fast, Obsidian snatched up Steven and weaved through the orbs with grace, hoping that his friends the orb's were after could fight against them long enough for him to target his true adversary, Peridot. Jasper may pose a huge threat, but Peridot's tech was by far and away the most destructive thing on this battlefield. With a tap of her screens she could send a hellish barrage of laser fire from their ship or send out wave after wave of Robonoids until they were too outnumbered to even come back from it. She needed to be stopped, and once she was then maybe they had a fair fight….too bad something stood in his way.

"And where do you think you're going?" Jasper questioned, blocking the way with her massive, intimidating frame. "I wouldn't think you're going after Peridot, now were you? Heh, maybe the old Obsidian is still in there after all. Such a ruthless tactic, take out their technician, crumble their defenses, but I think you forgotten something; even without tech I can still pummel you into submission."

"Steven, run!" Naruto said, placing Steven down before preparing to take on Jasper head to head, something he's both dreaded and waited for, for 5 years. Heeding Obsidian's advice, Steven high-tailed it the other direction; but Jasper wasn't prepared to let anyone who oppose her retreat.

"Not so fast, Rose!" Jasper barked, prepared to blaze past Obsidian to stop this runt from retreating, but her tactical strategy was put on hold when Obsidian stepped in, brandishing his scythe. With a swipe of his weapon, he pushed back Jasper, keeping her at bay for the time being.

"You're fight is with me, remember!" Obsidian hissed,

"Oh, don't you worry, we'll have our fight, but right now I won't miss this opportunity!" Jasper stated, "I thought Rose was long since dead, but now that I see her alive and well, Yellow Diamond wants both her and you back on homeworld!"

"I don't give a damn what Yellow Diamond wants, you won't touch Steven and that's final." Naruto said firmly as he slipped into his fighting stance, prepared to keep Jasper at bay for as long as possible.

"Big words, I hope you have the power to back them up!" But, before Obsidian could even go on the offensive, Obsidian was taken out of the equation by the remote controlled annoyances that were the Robonoids.

"Grab Rose Quartz, Jasper, I'll hold them off!" Peridot yelled from the safety of her spot near the ship, her hovering metallic fingers dancing around the holographic keyboard as if it were magic.

"...Humph, that's the first useful thing you've done this whole trip, Peridot...I'm surprised." Jasper stated, it seemed like a compliment but even Jasper's compliments could be taken as insults if you look at them in the right light. With little time to waste Jasper rushed to Steven's positions, her big powerful legs leaping across the battlefield at a breakneck pace; while Steven merely couldn't outrun her. Steven collapsed on the sand, his previous act of heroism had zapped him of all his strength, he was lucky that he had made it this far; but because of his fatigue, Jasper was able to catch up with zero issues.

Standing tall above the boy's downed frame, Jasper stared before her at this sickening display of weakness and scowled, "Rose, why do you look like this?" She asked, looming over Steven's small frame. "Why are you so weak?"

"Don't hurt him!" Proclaimed Lapis, flying over to the scene on translucent water wings in hopes of defusing this situation. No matter what happened she never wanted to see Steven hurt, she could care less about the planet or the other crystal gems, but Steven was the only gem that was ever nice to her during her time on earth; if she was going to protect anyone on this planet, it would be him.

"You knew about this!" Jasper hissed, her words laced with rage.

"It wasn't relevant to the mission," Lapis meekly stated, unaware of what she has brought upon herself.

"You….You lied to me!" Enraged by this bit of information, Jasper lashed out, cracking Lapis across the cheek with unchecked powers, sending the water gem skidding across the sandy beach. "If there is anything I hate more, it's liars!"

Steven watched this display of brutality in horror, Jasper's strength was terrifying - how could anyone compete with her. With Lapis out of her way, Jasper begins to stalk the young gem, her eyes transfixed on his slowly retreating frame. "Leave Steven alone!" Yelled another before Jasper was taken by suprise from behind, a gauntlet drilled her in the spine, pushing the dominating gem back with a grunt.

Jasper growled, growing more frustrated by the second, "the thought of such a disgusting display was able to lay a single hand on me is an insult to me as a warrior! I will rectify that right here, right now," with a simple flick of her wrist, a oddly shaped weapon appeared in her hand. It had the shape of a odd tuning fork that held a oblong sphere within its gap. SPeaking of it's gap, a greenish electrical current rushed through it, adding to it's menacing nature. "Primed gem destabilizer!"

Jasper took to the offensive, charging Garnet with reckless abandoned as Garnet went on the defensive. She dodged a few strikes of this aptly named gem destabilizer before throwing in a few of her own punches, which, shockingly were dodged with ease - no one's ever dodged Garnet's attacks so easily. "Humph, sloppy." That was all Jasper said before digging the tip of the gem destabilizer into Garnet's gut, sending 1,000's of uncontrolled wattz through Garnet's very being. This display only lasted for a second before the unthinkable happened, Garnet cracked. A single, distinct line from the top of her forehead to the bottom of her waist began to form and branch off around her body, severing limbs and body parts without mercy.

The remaining crystal gems, who had their own hands full with Peridot's creations were stunned into silence as they watched the strongest one of them all, their best friend reduced to nothing more than a gem.

Obsidian watched on, his struggle against this massive orb taking a back seat to what he had just seen. " _Jasper…..what have you done?"_ Naruto thought before he blew past his opponent and made his way towards Jasper, a new emotion taking over his visage, rage. "Jasper!" He yelled, prepared to take his once long time friend head on for what he just did to one of his friends, but he still had one thing standing in his way before he could reach her. With the element of surprise, the Robonoid he sidestepped was now gaining on him, ready to put a wrench in his plans.

This thing needed to be dealt with, now!

So, with a grip that would snap a tree branch in two, Naruto turned to face his orb like opponent; a red, heated aura rising from his blade as he aimed himself towards his target. With one swift motion, he sliced through the hard outer shelling of the Robonoid, leaving it null and unresponsive; unfortunately, his decision to take out this Robonoid came with a price.

Peridot played him like a fiddle, the Robonoid he just slashed through was only a diversion to help her pick off another one of their team members without opposition. Seeing as Obsidian was busy, Pearl and Amethyst went to defend Steven from the looming beast of Jasper; but before they could even make it half way towards their destination, Pearl was sideswiped by the last Robonoid and in one swift motion, it absorbed her into it's body before stultifying it's silicone inside, freezing Pearl in place in seconds.

"Pearl!" Amethyst yelled, following the orb back to the ship in hopes of finding a way to help her friend. While Amethyst focused on saving Pearl, Obsidian's course was undeterred - he needed to protect Steven, he promised everyone he would.

"Jasper, we have successfully capture the defective Pearl. She'll be placed on board our ship until further notice." Peridot stated over their communication link, controlling the Robonoid that has captured Pearl straight into the ship.

"Good, grab that useless Lazuli as well. Yellow Diamond might find the information she has a bit more useful than I did." Jasper chuckled before turning her attention back to Steven who was still shocked by his square mother's desemation. "Now, Rose, I have a bone to pick with you." She growled, gripping the boy by his collar and hoisting him up into the air with ease. "I was there, you know, at the first ware for this garbage planet. I fought against your armies. I respected your tactics. But this...this is sick!"

"Jasper, let him go!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards the scene,

"I don't get what you're planning, Rose, but look. Your base is taken. Your armies are ruined. You have failed!" Dispelling her weapon of choice, Jasper rears back her thick head before bring it directly into Steven's knocking him out without a second thought, leaving Amethyst and Obsidian as the only Crystal Gems standing.

"Jasper!" Obsidian seethed, reaching his destination only to find that he was already too late. He looked to the ground to find both of Garnet's gems casted carelessly against the sand shore. "You've gone too far!"

"Did you know that you had Rose on your team, Obsidian? Did you know you were harboring one of catalysts for that foolish rebellion back on Homeworld?!" Jasper questioned, only to get nothing in return; but, surprisingly, Obsidian silence spoke just enough for her to know he knew. "And yet you did nothing to stop it!"

"I told you the day I left, I am not fighting for Homeworld anymore!" He yelled, the rage and disgust for homeworld now coming through perfectly.

Jasper snarled at this, "...humph, you say that like you have a choice," yet her sour mood soon turned smug as she still held the unconscious body of one of Naruto's supposed friends within her grasp. "You _will_ come back to homeworld and become mine once more or I'll shatter every last one of your friends,"

"You wouldn't dare," he stated, yet deep down he knew the answer.

"I've shattered gems over far less, don't tempt me." She chuckled, before presenting Steven as her proof. "Now, lay down your weapon and come peacefully or I'll start with Rose here," with little options open to him, Naruto recalled his weapon to the pleasure of Jasper, snickering at his submissive behavior.

"Good, you're at least still good at taking orders." She cooed, "now, kneel." Naruto was hesitant to do so, even if his friends were in danger his pride as a fighter and a warrior still ran through his veins, kneeling to her would only give her more power over him, more dominese. "I said _kneel_!" She said through gritted teeth, still holding Steven outstretched to carry home the fact that she still holds all the cards, "or do you want another shattered gem on your conscious?"

His knuckles were turning white, everything about himself was telling him not to do this but he couldn't bare to see Jasper destroy Steven - nothing was more important that protecting Steven, not even his pride. So, with a heavy heart, Naruto took a knee, once again caving into the demands of a crazy woman. "Heheh, it's always good to see someone understand the gravity of the situation." Jasper was loving this, she finally had control over her Obsidian once again and she refuses to lose such a thing again, "now, for your final order. I want you to fight that little runt of yours."

"What?!" He practically spat, she was insane to think he'd fight Amethyst.

"You heard me," she stated sternly, almost finding some sick sort of joy in toying with him. "I want you to take down your final soldier for me,"

"I refuse!" He barked through gritted teeth.

She paused, a slick smile appearing on her features. "Very well, if you're unwilling to do it, I'll do it myself. I'll crush that overcooked runt's gem under my boot heel, and then you can blame her destruction on yourself."

"How's about this ' _runt'_ kick your ass!" without warning, Amethyst's whip wrapped around the muscle-bound gem's thick neck before Amethyst sends a stream of purple fire up the cord directly into Jasper's face, actually causing the gem some pain. With an opening presenting itself to Naruto, he rush the blinded Jasper, ripping Steven from her grip before toppling her with a shoulder charge.

Rolling out of Jasper's range, Obsidian came to a stop next to Amethyst who was still on guard for Jasper's next attack. "Thank you, Amethyst, I didn't know how long I could have stalled her." Obsidian said, placing the unconscious Steven down behind them.

"Well, you know me, I always love crashing parties," Amethyst joked, seeing Jasper's body shift - somehow she knew that her little attack wouldn't keep her down for long.

"Were you able to get Pearl?" Naruto asked, calling his weapon into battle with a flick of his wrist.

"No, that damned Peridot shut me out of the ship before I could even board it," she answered with a sigh. Just as Amethyst was close enough to slow down that Robonoid from entering the ship, Peridot had used her limp enhancer's offensive energy blast function to stun her for just long enough to board the ship with her price. It pissed off Amethyst to no end to have been outsmarted and outgunned by a damned Peridot but she knew she couldn't dwell on it right now, Naruto needed her and she knew the stood a better chance together than apart.

"So, it's just the two of us then," he commented, getting a nod from his shorter partner. "Alright then, let's give it our all!"

"You little runt! That actually hurt, I'll give you that much - but don't get too cocky on me," said Jasper, now back up on her feet for round 2. "That will be your only effective hit on me tonight, I guarantee it!"

"I'll take her high, Amethyst, go for her legs!"

"On it!" And so, the battle continued onward as the final members of the Crystal Gems took their last stand against the destructive Homeworld Gems. Each member showing everything they have against one another, each meaning to topple the other's; Amethyst's wide ranged whips kept Jasper on her feet while Naruto's quick feet and long reach with his scythe pushed Jasper back. It was something that Jasper hasn't faced in quite some time, an actual challenge, but that's not to say that the Crystal Gems were dominating their opponent.

Regardless of their range and skill working as a team, Jasper has never been known as a pushover, each crack of the whip from Amethyst landed on Jasper, yet did little damage compared to her first attack. Naruto, now doing anything and everything to land a hit, has only been able to leave a few knicks on her clothing and battering ram helmet, other than that, Jasper's alluded his swings.

However, this constant back and forth had to come to an end, and the gem to do just that was one who wasn't even in the fight.

Peridot, from her spot in the ship, watched as the three continued their little battle - growing more and more aggravated by the second. This was taking far too long in her opinion, knowing Jasper she's merely taking her sweet time against her opponents to assert her dominance over them. However, this wasn't something Peridot wanted to waste time on, so, with a few swipes on her keyboard, her plan went into action.

The ship they arrived in began to rise as it's pointer finger stretched out, a ball of pure energy developed on it's tip as she took aim. She had a choice to make, she could target dead center, right at the group or use a wide spread scatter shot for more of a concussive shot. She could end this quickly and take the center shot but something stopped her from doing so, no, it wasn't Jasper or the thought of her surviving and crushing her gem - though, come to think of it, that would be a good deterrent for doing so - it was Obsidian. He was within the line of fire and with the power behind this shot she wasn't 100% certain if a straight shot would kill all of them or not, and she didn't want to risk it.

" _Why?"_ she questioned herself, her finger still hovering over the button, " _why are you even considering this? Just...just press the button, you'll end this whole thing. Once that's done you can go to the Kindergarten, start it up yourself, and be back at homeworld before you know it. JUST PRESS THE BUTTON!"_ bue no matter how much she talked herself up, she just couldn't bring herself to take the shot. It wasn't just Jasper who wanted to bring Obsidian back, she's spent just as much time as Jasper has worrying over him, hoping that each planet they landed on might have him, but she also doesn't pretend like Jasper does that what he did that day, what he did to _them_ was fake. She remembers what he did, she remembers all too well, yet even with all of that in her mind, the anger and hatred she holds for him deep down inside, she still couldn't pull the trigger.

So, with a sigh, Peridot settled for option number 2, "scatter shot!" She ordered, dragging her finger across the screen as the ship followed her laid out path.

Without warning, the ship fired, carving a line in the sand before exploding with enough concussive force to send each fighter flying, well, two of them anyway. Jasper, who beforehand noticed their ship raising from it's original position, latched herself to the sandy shore right before the attack hit which helped in keeping her glued to her current position. As the dust settled Jasper surveyed the area, hoping to find her weakened opponents so she could end this fight soon enough. As she searched, a body made itself known by shaking off the sand that had buried her moments ago - it was the supposed runt of the group, Amethyst.

Before Amethyst could even see straight after such a hellish attack, Jasper was on her like a vulture, prepared to dig into it's prey. Now pinned to the sandy beach by Jasper's heavy boot, Amethyst could only let out a whimper before her capture stepped up the pressure. "You know, I don't think you three understand what you've gotten yourselves into." She sighed, digging her heel into the small of Amethyst's back. "Obsidian is _mine_! He has always been mine and will stay that way, if anyone tries to stand in my way I'll shatter them like the pieces of trash they are. Starting with you!" With the blast taking a lot of out of her, all Amethyst could do was watch as Jasper prepared to headbutt Amethyst into extinction.

"JASPER!" The primal shout was followed with a strong shoulder barge, pushing the muscle bound gem back. "Don't you dare touch _my_ Amethyst!" This attack was followed with another as, with one powerful uppercut, a fist connected with Jasper's chin, filled with as much raw, unkept power Obsidian could muster, sending Jasper flying through the air before landing a few feet away with a heavy thud. "Amethyst!" He yelled, dropping to his knees to scoop up his friend and rest her head against his chest, a concerned look quite apparent in his features. "Hey, amethyst, please speak. Tell me that you're okay, tell me that you can hear me."

With a timid voice, Amethyst spoke softly, "y-you said….your,"

"What?" He asked, far more worried about his friend's health and safety than about what he's said in the heat of the moment.

She reached her hand to his cheek, drawing his attention to her face rather than her condition. This was an important moment for her, far more important than her physical self right now. "You….said that I was y-your Amethyst, d-did you….mean that?"

"Of course I did, you mean everything to me!"

"Obsidian….you have no idea how long I've wai-"

"I've gotta hand it to you, that's the first punch you've thrown this entire fight that actually hurt me. I hope you have more of that left in your tank, if not, that'll just be disappointing." And just as the two were about to have the moment they've been waiting for, another had to step in. "Let's go!" Without remorse, Jasper reared her foot back before sending it flying towards Obsidian's chin, connecting flawlessly with it's intended target. With Naruto now skidding across the beachfront, Jasper continues her assault on a certain blue gem. Grabbing Amethyst by her shirt she lifts the defected gem into the sky, a menacing gleam in her eyes, "so, you're the one who's brainwashed Obsidian, you're the one that's made him this soft over the years."

"S-Shut up!" Amethyst raged, her moment was ruined yet again and this time it was ruined by this insane ex-partner of Obsidian, she refused to let her continue talking about Obsidian as if she owns him. "I-I love Obsidian! I always have, the only person who's tried to….brainwash and control him is you and that Peridot! I won't let you take Obsidian away from me again!"

"You little runt!" Jasper hissed in disgust, spiking poor Amethyst into the dirt like she was nothing more than a football, "you act as if you know him. You were nothing more than a passerby in his long life, while I've spent millenias with him; both of us shoulder to shoulder on the battlefield, learning each other's moves, our styles, and who we were! We were comrades, gems in arms; you were nothing!" Jasper stalked her prey as Amethyst tried her damndest to reach her feet. This battle, it was taking it's toll on our short little gem; Pearl's been captured, Garnet's been popped, and Steven's been knocked out - each member of the Crystal Gems has been systematically taken out except for her and Obsidian, they have to put up a fight no matter what, for their friends and this planet.

"T-T-That's not true….I…..I meant something to Obsidian! I always have! He told me that!" She refuted heatedly, refusing to let the tears building up fall.

"Do you know how many times I've ever heard him talk about you, runt?" Jasper asked, deciding to humor this little runt's fantasy. "Absolutely zero; I heard him talk about Peridot more than a disappointment like you,"

"You're lying!" Amethyst barked, "Obsidian and I-"

"Were nothing but a fantasy that you refuse to let go!" Jasper yelled back, shaking Amethyst's resolve by her mere volume alone. "Face it, you were nothing more than a distant memory in his life, and now, I'll make sure that memory ends here!" What more could Amethyst do? She's done everything she can do and it barely made Jasper flinch, she was done for, over, about to be popped and whisked onto her ship like all the others to be thrown into cells and brought back to homeworld - this was the end for Amethyst...and yet the hit never came. Slowly, Amethyst opened her eyes only to find a familiar face blocking Jasper's fist with the shaft of his scythe, holding her back as much as he could.

"Jasper, please, stop this!"

"Are you begging for this runt's survival?! They really have softened you up!" She yelled, soon gripping Naruto's weapon and pulling backwards, bringing him dead center into her chest. Once there she wrapped her arms around him, locking him into her hold as she squeezes him tightly against her own frame. "I remember when you'd crush defects like this under your boot heel, you were a real gem, a gem I looked up to, a gem I respected! But now, those treacherous gems back on homeworld and these rejects have warped your mind! I want back my old Obsidian, and I'll do everything within my power to do it!"

"Obsidian would never do something like that! You don't know the first thing about him, now let him go or I'll make you!" Amethyst yelled, finding new found strength in Jasper's ridiculous claims.

"Ha! You saying that just shows how ignorant you are!" She fired back, squeezing her price tighter to her body, reciving a pained grunt from said price. "Obsidian was a beast, one of the best gems we'd ever had, he'd cut through waves of our enemies in a single second which is why it saddens me to see how slow and out of shape he's become over the past few years! But don't worry, when we get back to homeworld I'll make sure you're back in working order."

"I won't let you take him back to become another grunt in your army!" Amethyst yelled, wildly flailing her whip around Jasper, hoping to get some reaction from her, but all Jasper did was take it in strides. Without wasting a second, Jasper allowed Amethyst's whip to wrapping around her arm before grabbing it full, locking Amethyst's whip into her tight grip.

"A grunt? Is that what you thought he was?" She asked, looking from Obsidian to Amethyst. Just as the gears began to turn in the lumbering beast's mind, a light chuckle came to her lips only for it to grow into a thunderous laughter. "ahahahahaAHAHAHAHA! What stories have you been filling this defect's mind with, Obsidian?!"

"Stop laughing!" Amethyst grunted, trying to wrestle back her whip from Jasper's hands but her grip was far too strong. However, with a single tug of the taught whip, Amethyst flew towards Jasper's awaiting fist, decking her across the chin yet again.

"J-J-Jasper! No….d-d-don't hurt her, I beg you!" Obsidian squeaked, watching helplessly as his friend was being systematically beaten to a pulp.

Her boot once again meeting Amethyst's prone body as she continues to laugh. "Do you really think that I'd risk my life or career on the battlefield for a grunt?! No, he's much more special than that, he was Yellow Diamonds right-hand gem, just like me!"

"N-N-No….y-y-your lyin-"

"Shut it!" Jasper growled, applying more pressure to poor Amethyst's chest. "He was the best we had to offer so of course he'd be by Yellow Diamond's side and he served with pride for 5,000 years, he was just like me! Ruthless, driven, and loyal until that damned rebellion got their hooks into him!"

"O-Obsidian….she's l-l-lying, right?" Amethyst looked to Obsidian, hoping to find soleus in his confirmation. "T-Tell me it's not true…."

"Yes, Obsidian, tell her the truth!" Jasper squeezed once more, eliciting another scream from her captured victim, "tell her how you helped Yellow Diamond terreform thousands of planets! Tell her how we wiped out countless species who got in our way, tell her how you put countless rebellion leaders to death before they kidnapped you! Tell her now or I'll crush her and her gem right here and now!"

"I-I-I-IT'S TRUE! I DID EVERYTHING JASPER JUST SAID, I WAS THE RIGHT HAND GEM FOR YELLOW DIAMOND!" A silence crept over the battlefield, each gem holding a different expression. Amethyst looked damn near heart broken, her supposed friend weaved a web of lies to her from the very beginning; Obsidian was down casted, ashamed of what he had to do at this moment in time, and finally, there was Jasper who couldn't look more pleased with herself if she tried.

"...N-No,"

"I-I'm sorry,"

"Good, I knew you'd come to your senses." but nothing was ever that simple with Jasper. With a hefty stomp, Amethyst's physical form was destroyed, leaving nothing but her dusty gem behind.

"B-But you promised!"

"Yes I did, but you know as well as I do how much our word is worth." Jasper stated blankly as she placed her boot over the gem this time, prepared to finish her job. "Now, I'm going to erase this defect from existence!" Everything seemed to go so slow, Jasper's boot moved an inch a second as she grew closer and closer to Amethyst's unprotected gem, prepared to shatter it without a shred of remorse. He couldn't allow this to happen but what could he do, right now he seemed to be no match for his captor, everything he's thrown at her has either been counter or just infective but he couldn't' just let his friend die. " _No, this can't happen! I can't let this happen, I won't!"_ He thought as he saw Jasper's foot now one inch from the gem, his heart began to pound, no, he doesn't have a heart, then what was that beating? Something within him, something hot, something primal, something powerful began to bubble from his gem, a feeling that he hasn't felt in decades. " _Amethyst, Pearl, Garnet, Steven - I failed you all but I won't let her take you four!_ "

"NOOO!" Naruto exploded with raw power, blasting Jasper backward with a force that she wasn't seen for a long time, the second source of power that's ever brought excitement to her very core.

"There it is! That's what I've been looking for all along! My _true_ Obsidian!"

Obsidian, unfazed by Jasper's words, scoops up Amethyst's gem - he stares mournfully at it as he noticed a crack beginning to set through it's once perfect gemstone. " _Amethyst, even if you never look at me the same way again, I'll protect you with all my strength."_ his thoughts gave him strength as he slips his friend's gem into his pocket and turns to his opponent, a deadly glare settling into his features. "You wanted the true me and you'll regret it! I'll make you pay for everything you've done to my friends!" And with that heated decree, both combatants pushed off, charging at one another with powerful strides and blistering speed, prepared to clash in a battle for the ages.

 **Thank you all for waiting for my this update and I hope it was all worth the wait. Now, this update is a bit longer than usual because my updates might become a bit more speratic of the course of the next few months. I've been back to college for about a month now and my projects are just getting harder and harder, so, if you're wondering why I haven't updated it, please, blame my professors.**

 **But anyway, thanks once again for reading my story and if you liked it, please leave a review and PM me if you have any questions, I'll hopefully get back to you. See yea!**


	13. Behind the Veil pt 2

**Chapter 9**

 **Behind the Veil pt. 2: Naruto and Jasper's Massive Clash!**

 **I own Nothing**

" _NOOO!" Naruto exploded with raw power, blasting Jasper backwards with force that she wasn't seen for a long time, the second source of power that's ever brought excitement to her very core._

" _There it is! That's what I've been looking for all along! My true Obsidian!"_

 _Obsidian, unfazed by Jasper's words, scoops up Amethyst's gem - he stares mournfully at it as he noticed a crack beginning to set through it's once perfect gemstone. "Amethyst, even if you never look at me the same way again, I'll protect you with all my strength." his thoughts gave him strength as he slips his friend's gem into his pocket and turns to his opponent, a deadly glare settling into his features. "You wanted the true me and you'll regret it! I'll make you pay for everything you've done to my friends!" And with that heated decree, both combatants pushed off, charging at one another with powerful strides and blistering speed, prepared to clash in a battle for the ages._

* * *

"Come on then, I want to see you back up those words!" Her demand was soon met as the glowing enraged gem smashed into her with blinding speed, kicking up mounds of sand with their impact. Jasper's feet dug deep into the sand, pushing her back and yet locking her in place for what was to come. Deciding to take the offensive quickly in this fight, Jasper tightened her fist and went for a swing to Obsidian's open face, but before she could even rear back for it Naruto's visage was gone - a trail of kicked up sand being the only evidence that he was even there in the first place. "What the-"

"You said you wanted me," a voice called to her from behind. Quickly she turned, hoping to put up some defense for the attack that was to come but was surprised to find that he wasn't behind her, but in fact, above her - dropping towards her with an axe kick with her name on it. "You've got me!" Another impactful hit shook the beaches of Beach City as the two titanic gems go at it.

"Humph," Jasper chuckled, her forearms taking the brunt of this attack before quickly gripping onto his extended leg like a vice, refusing to let him go. "If that's all you've got this fight was over before it even began!" With one quick twirl Jasper chuckled Naruto across the beach, skidding to a halt towards the edge of where the beach ends and Beach City begins.

" _Damn, she's getting me closer to the city."_ Naruto hissed, jumping to his feet. " _I have to keep her on the beach at all cost, the less property damage the better."_

"You know, if their was one thing I would change about you, Obsidian, it was your backwards thing about speed over strength." Jasper sighed, dusting off her uniform with a somber expression. She wasn't pleased with the recent showing of skill from her supposed rival - he hadn't expanded his arsenal of moves or even gotten stronger, it offended her as a warrior. "No matter how fast you get, I'll always be able to take it and hit back 10x harder!"

"You can't hit what you can't see," zipping from his position, Naruto once again blurred out of existence for the human eye - making a beeline straight for Jasper's smug face. Prepared for anything Naruto had to throw at her, Jasper stood confidently in her spot only to regret it mere seconds later as, blurring back into existence was her target but inside of using only his fist to try and throw her off, he was brandishing his trademarked scythe and it was poised to slice straight through her.

Without hesitation, Jasper's helmet sprung to life just in time to take the slash from Naruto's scythe, leaving a deep gash across its usual smooth exterior.

Jasper grazed her hand against the gash, infuriated at how close she was to losing at that very moment. Her eyes were taken off the price for a single second and Naruto was prepared to capitalize - maybe this world hasn't softened him as much as she thought it had...but that didn't stop the fury that was building up within her. She whipped around, prepared to lay into Naruto for his blind sided attack, "y-you….you bastard! You nearly took my hea-" but was immediately surprised to see that he wasn't there anymore. He disappeared again!

"Not again!" Jasper barked, scanning the beach for any sign of Naruto's whereabouts. " _Where is he?! He can't be this fast, not five minutes ago I could still spot him...i-is he speeding up?!"_ She thought hectically, spinning around in her own area, hoping - no, praying that their might be a single sign as to where the blonde haired blur would end up.

Sufficiently raddled, Jasper was prepared to resort to the only thing she could do only to pause when she noticed something. It was subtle, anyone else would have simply looked past but thanks to her experience this little tidbit might give her an advantage. The sand around her, every few sands a few particles would be kicked up - it was Naruto's feet - no matter how fast someone goes their feet still have to touch the ground, Naruto is no different. "Gotcha," she chuckled as she saw Naruto's final kick off towards her direction and with one twist of her helmet she connected with the tip of Naruto's scythe, stopping its strike before it could even land it.

"Damn, how the hell did you-"

"I found your tell, Obsidian!" Jasper sneered as she pushes back with her helmet, adding pressure to the scythe's blade, Naruto's appearance visibly shaken - "yeah, you should be afraid!" Naruto quickly backed off, giving himself and his opponent some much needed distance. "You don't look so hot right now, Obsidian. Are you sure you want to keep using that form?"

Naruto tightened his grip on his weapon, his breath now ragged and raspy form using this form for so long. " _Damnit! Don't crap out on me now, I need this form…but if she can track my movement it won't matter…"_

"What's taking you so long, trying to think of another trick to beat me?" She snickered, "I suppose the trainee has surpassed her trainer."

"Humph, that's always been your weakness Jasper, hubris," said Naruto, before a smirk of his own appeared on his features. "Besides, do you really think I'd be foolish enough to teach you everything about me? No matter what, a teacher must keep their own secrets even from their students." Naruto said, gripping the head of his blade and, with one quick twist, detached the scythe's blade. "You've always been a one trick pony, Jasper - while I'm full of surprises!" Sliding into a low stance, his arm carrying the scythe blade stretched out behind him, Naruto took off towards Jasper as he's done several times this night, but this time it seemed like his speed had double once again.

Before Jasper could even bat an eye a cut appeared across her right upper arm, next was her left thigh, another appeared across her chest - this continued without stop for only 5 seconds but each second riddled her with slashes and cuts, enraging her just as much as it pained her. At the moment Naruto saw his opening, he aimed to slice straight through Jasper's mid-section - harmlessly poofing her out of existence...he planned anyway, and as many people know, the best laid plans often go awry.

As he stopped before Jasper, his heated blade poised for the strike a sickening crack echoed through the battlefield - and just like that, power drained from Naruto's body.

It was his gem, it was starting to crack.

It wasn't major, a few chips and hairline fractures here and there, but it was enough to give Jasper the opening she desired. Now seething from Naruto's relentless assault, Jasper took charge, scooping up the stunned gemstone and rushed forward with a bone chilling battle cry.

Her destination; Beach City.

With zero care for the well-being of the establishments and homes of Beach City, Jasper plows Naruto through the first building she could find - the Big Doughnut - as she breaks through the glass doors, demolishes the front desk and embeds Naruto into the wall full of delicious doughnuts. "Y-You're….a real...piece of work, Obsidian!" Jasper stated tiredly, still gripping Naruto in a bear like hug over her shoulder - half of her body along with Obsidian's whole body still embedded in the Doughnut case. "Most would have….killed over by now, I'm glad this...damn planet hasn't taken away your...fighting spirit." However, her praise was short lived when she started to rip both of them from their spot on the wall, stepping back in preparation. "But, unfortunately, I'm gonna half to break that fighting spirit in two!" Taking a running start towards the wall, Jasper uses Naruto's body as a battering ram to smash clear through the Big Doughnut's back wall, trucking towards the next establishment that had the unfortunate luck of being next to the Big Doughnut, the Beach Citywalk Fries.

With one more primal roar, Jasper thrusts Obsidian through the wooden panels of the frying establishment, allowing Naruto to flop lifelessly into the establishment like a limp noodle.

"Well, I think that's enough….abuse for today...now I just need to drag you...back to the ship," Jasper chuckled, breaking off a few pieces of wood that was obstructing her way to Naruto only to be surprised to see her punching bag slowly bring himself to a kneeling position, using the cast iron flat top grill for support.

"D-Don't you dare….c-c-c-count me out yet," Naruto hissed, gripping the grill tightly as his gem glowed the same hellish red as it did minutes before.

Jasper grimaced, feeling the toll this battle has taken on her as well - she needed to end this and fast. "Fine, if you want to prolong your suffering, then who am I to stop you!" Jasper charged forward, prepared to continue on this pain train she's gotten so much milage out of. However, her plan was quickly dashed as, with one single tug, Naruto ripped the flat top from it's position and smashed it into the unsuspecting Jasper with a sickening thud - sending Jasper crashing through the other side of the building.

Slowly, the feeling of being used as a battering ram still fresh on his mind and nerves, Naruto exited the Fry place, staring in front of Jasper, who was trying to gain back her footing. "You've been….holding out on me, haven't ya?...W-Who knew you were that strong."

"Like I said...I'm full of surprises," he stated coldly,

Then Jasper did something that threw Naruto a bit off guard, she laughed. "Hahaha," it had been so long since he's heard such a thing it was practically foreign to him.

"What's so funny?" He asked, keeping his guard up just in case.

"I'm just so….excited!" She declared with a wicked smirk. "This...this is what I've been...waiting for, for 5 years now….back to the way things used to be….me and you, fighting like wild animals! You can't tell me that you don't feel the same rush that we used to feel every day!"

Naruto stayed silence, glaring down his enemy with the most heinous of stares. "...No," he refuted but that did nothing but make her smile even more.

"Heh, now you're just lying...I can see it in your eyes...the fire, the passion...I bet you haven't felt this way for years….especially with that band of weaklings." She snickered,

"Leave them...out of this," he ordered and yet his words were not heeded.

She snarled at his weak attempt to protect those rejects, "keep pretending that they mean something to you….that you can hide who you once were! I know you better than even you know you!"

"Shut...up!"

"Stop pretending to be someone you're not!"

"You know nothing about me, I've changed!" He retorted, and yet it seemed like he was stating that more for himself than anything else.

"You're a fighter, a ruthless warrior - just like me! You're no peace keeper and you're sure as hell no Crystal Gem!"

"AHHHH!" Dashing forward, Naruto delivers a devastating left uppercut to Jasper's gut - rocking her instantly. "I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" He bellowed, sending another harsh fist crisp across her face and then another one across the other cheek, then another and another and another, until he was laying down a blur of combos that a normal individual couldn't follow. "I AM A CRYSTAL GE-" but, before he could deliver the final blow his fist was caught, held firmly by the massive hands of Jasper.

She wiped away the marks left on her face by Naruto's fists of fury before delivering her own bone shaking strike, a knee straight to the gut. "You can lie to yourself but you can never lie to me," Jasper mocked, still holding tightly to Naruto hand as she dropped him to his knees with another knee to his stomach. "I've seen the real you, just like you've seen the real me and I won't let you deny yourself who you truly are!" Gripping his fist tighter, Jasper twirls before releasing said fist, sending him through another building as if it were made from balsa wood and tinsel.

Naruto tumbles out on the other side, his vision blurred by the abuse he's received and the dust that wafts around him. He goes to stand but feels the wear and tear on his body begin to form - he couldn't keep up this pace, no matter what he threw at Jasper she was always one step ahead of him. She planned for a war and she wasn't afraid of doing what she had to do to win….so Naruto couldn't be either.

" _I don't know if I can use this technique again without consequences,"_ Naruto thought, reflecting on the cracks appearing on his gem, " _but I have to try everything for the gems! No matter what!"_ placing his hand on his left side pocket - feeling the groove Amethyst's gem has left - he knew he couldn't give up without giving everything he's got. So, with his resolve emboldened, Naruto rose to his feet and released his full potential once more. "I need power this time," he said to himself, his aura changing from a neutral red to a dark one. His true potential could not have been activated at a better time as Jasper decided to make herself known at this very moment. Rushing through the hole she made with Naruto's body, Jasper takes this opportunity to go on the offensive, leveling a hard left hook towards the gem in her sights. It connected, rocking Naruto slightly - only for him to in turn deliver his own backhand across Jasper's cheek.

The battle continued for what felt like hours, each gem trading blows with one another - eachs body scraping across the small place of Beach City, causing unknown amount of property damage. Nothing seemed to stop these two from their brawl, each refusing to give the other one the satisfaction of giving up. Soon, however, the two had reached a breaking point, neither of them could continue this pace for too long, even Jasper - the battle hardened brute - was showing signs of massive fatigue. Neither of them have faced a challenge this daunting and now they're paying the price of such a battle between two immovable objects.

They stand in the epicenter of Beach City, the area surrounding them was just as banged up as they were, only a handful of establishment were free of damage. Jasper, gripping her left arm in pain, stood towards the east, her ship in the background as she slowly took in air - visibly beaten down by this fight. Her opponent, who was taking a knee, was in a bit worse shape than she was, his clothing tattered and dirtied, his face covered in sweat and dirt - everything about his was a mess and yet his eyes still held the determination of a true warrior. He was prepared to keep going even if it killed him - Steven, Garnet, Pearl, Connie, and especially Amethyst were his motivation and he couldn't let them down!

"D-D-Damn….I-I never thought I'd….be this messed up again…." Jasper wheezed, her breath now ragged and beaten as she glared towards Naruto, her left eye shut from exhaustion. "O-Of course….only you could...d-do this to m-me...I'm actually….k-kinda proud…."

"P-Pride….that's….a-all you've ever cared a-about," Naruto hissed, feeling every ack and pain shoot through every fiber of his being. "P-Pride and….strength,"

"...T-There was...something else...I-I cared about more than...t-those two things," Jasper said, her voice more somber and subdued. Her right hand tightened around her left shoulder, her teeth bared in anger, "but then….that thing was taken from me! Ripped from me by others and I'd throw away my pride and my strength to bring him back!...Even if that means I have to break him to do it…"

"J-Jasper," Naruto looked to his once beloved partner, her aggressive facade falling away from just a moment to show her true self after his departure five years ago - she was hurt, dejected and prepared to do anything to bring back the one thing she cares about more than her own pride and strength. In a way, Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for what he did all those years ago - it turned a confident gem into a broken one trying to find her missing piece….but even though he feels for his once close friend, what he did needed to be done - he will never repent for it. "I...I'm sorry about...everything. M-Maybe in another life….another time...we'd still be as close as we were…."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll make that a reality, I assure you!" Jasper barked, setting up for another round. "My mind has not changed, whether you choose to come peacefully or not, you _will_ be mine again!"

"I was never yours to begin with," Naruto said solemnly, preparing himself for his next and hopefully final attack. If he could land one more hit against her gem he could possibly end this battle once and for all - just one clear shot could make or break him….so he needed to dip into the well once more, to call upon his dormant energy for a final time. So, tightening his muscles, a lighter red aura now whipping around his frame, Naruto kicked off towards his opponent, his eyes set squarely on her gem. " _This is the end,"_ Naruto thought as he appeared before Jasper, his fist cocked back ready to strike...too bad his luck had ran out. Another, thicker crack began to make it's way up his gem - halting his momentum and his thoughts indefinitely.

This was all Jasper needed.

Reaching for her belt she pulled out her gem destabilizer and dug it deep into Naruto's stomach, allocating a wale of pain from Obsidian before his for bursted out of existence. "You were always mine," Jasper remarked, scooping up the damaged Obsidian gem carefully - rubbing her thumb against it's cracks gently. "You just didn't know it,"

* * *

Peridot, locking up the remanence of this so called resistance, heard the ramp of their lower, indicating that someone is boarding. Rushing to the entrance, she had one finger on the button to release the Robonoids just in the off chance that Obsidian was the victor. As the ship's doors released and opened she was relieved to see a battered and weakened Jasper standing triumphantly before her….well, as triumphantly as you could after a battle like that. "Jasper….were you able to capture Obsidian?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't, now would I?" She grumbled, pushing past Peridot with little care - practically knocking her on her backside. Quickly following behind, Peridot and Jasper found their way to the containment area. "His gem's been badly damaged, keep him secure until we get back to homeworld, I don't want him shattering during our trip."

"B-But what about the Kindergarten?" Peridot asked, nervous to even statement something contradictory to Jasper's claims.

Jasper looked to Peridot, aggravation clear across her features. "My only concern was to retrieve what was mine, you job does not."

"But yellow diamond specifically stated that-" Peridot tried to continue but Jasper wasn't in the mood to care about the plight of some useless, run of the mill Peridot.

"If you desire to stay on this miserable planet and fix the Kindergarten here, then be my guest, but I'm taking Obsidian back home to fix him regardless of if you're on this ship or not. Is that clear?" She asked, but the way she held herself it seemed like more of a demand.

"Y-Yes Jasper," Peridot stated, averting her eyes from Jaspers - intimidation once again silenced Peridot's legitimate concerns. "I-I'll stay on the ship, I just need to report back to Yellow Diamond that we've retrieved the defector and we shall be coming back to homeworld."

"Fine," stated Jasper, though, whether or not she was on the ship made no difference to Jasper. Soon, the arrived at their destination, one of the last cells the ship had to offer. Tapping a few select keys on the dashboard the yellow forcefield that laid before them evaporated, giving them entrance to the cell's interior. "Keep an eye on our prisoners while I'm gone." Jasper stated, handing over the damaged gem to her second in command before heading off towards who knows where.

"Wait, where are you going?" Peridot asked only to get a stern yet tired look from the retreating Jasper.

"I don't think that's in of your business, now is it?" She fired back,

"N-No Jasper, sorry Jasper." And with that, Jasper was gone, leaving Peridot to do what needed to be done to secure Naruto's safe trip back to the gem Homeworld.

* * *

Rows of cells lined the walls of this portion of the ship, many were empty, prepared to hold more inmates for transport to Homeworld, but a few of them housed key players in the fight for Earth. Pearl and Amethyst were placed in the same cell, each dejected and disheartened by their latest defeat. Garnet was nowhere to be found nor was Steven, probably held deeper into the ship - the blue Lapis Lazuli was sitting 'comfortably' in another cell, her minor transgression in protecting the enemy sentenced her to imprisonment. The final cell at the very end of the hall held a special guest, the newly captured Obsidian who, unlike the others, was bound by his hands - keeping him stationary for the trip. His arms were locked in a strange contraption that even he hasn't seen before, this so call contraption was locked to the floor by some sort of energy, keeping him stationary for the trip home.

This binding was a bit unnecessary when you take into account his cracked gem, he couldn't break out even if he tried - his energy is zapped from him, he couldn't summon his energy or his weapon, he was practically defenseless.

A statement that, though true, is hard to swallow for Obsidian.

"I gave Steven my word," Naruto mumbled to himself, staring down at his bound hands in shame. "I gave him my word that I'd protect him and his family and I couldn't even do that for him."

"Your word?" A voice spoke, catching his attention. Looking up from his hands he sees the one gem he never thought would ever want to see him again, Peridot. "As if that means anything anymore,"

"P-Peridot?"

"Oh, you've finally noticed my presence, have you?" She asked curtly, raising a single brow before focusing back on her work that was being projected by her right arm limb enhancer.

"W-Where are we going?" He asked,

"Where do you think? We're going back to homeworld," she stated in a rather condescending tone.

"How long have I been out for, how far are we to getting to homeworld?!"

"As if I'd tell you that, you don't have the right to know anything, _prisoner_!"

"Peridot, please don't take us back to Homeworld, the Crystal Gems would be executed for-" Naruto began to explain but was interrupted by his captor.

"For being traitors and aiding the Resistance all those years ago, a fate _you_ should be sharing with them but Jasper's helped you in that department." Her statement was cold, bitter in fact, and Naruto knew that she would be - after everything that's happened to her because of him he wouldn't be surprised that she wanted him dead.

"Peri, you have to listen to me-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" Peridot hissed, pressing a button on her LED monitor, sending a yellow batch of electricity through Naruto's very core, silencing him. "Call me that again we'll see just how much you can take before you shatter."

Obsidian pushed through the pain to continue his plea. "Y-Y-You can't….do this, they'll….they'll die…"

Peridot seemed to grow visibly frustrated with Obsidian's please, "of course you'd worry about those clods, traitors will stick with traitors to the very end. I wonder if you cared this much about us before you turned on us,"

"I-I always...worried about...you two," he whispered high enough for her to hear, earning him a scoff from his green skinned captor.

"Humph, I can see that your ability to fabricate lies hasn't changed," she commented, focusing more on her LED screen than his statement. "What lies did you tell the others to make them trust you? Did you tell them that you were a grunt? That you had nothing to do with Yellow Diamond or us for that matter? What did you tell them to gain their trust?!" She looked past her screen to see that Obsidian refused to answer, or even look her in the eyes. "Fine, don't answer me, your guilt is written all over your face. Spies like can't help but lie, it's in your nature."

"I'm not….a spy," he murmured, "everything that I've done….I did to help our people,"

"How is giving our secrets to the enemy _helping_ us? I can't find logic in your madness," She asked rather curtly,

"Yellow Diamond….doesn't care about you, Jasper...or anyone under her command. The Diamonds….w-want to…..control you, to stifle who...you can be, I want...to free us all from their hold over….us. I can't do that...without toppling...the Diamonds," he said, he's confident in such a statement clear in his eyes - something Peridot didn't like to see at all.

"You're insane! The Diamonds give us peace, order, and a purpose - without a Diamond none of us would be here!" She retorted, unable to follow his twisted, skewed ideals.

"Even though...they created us...that doesn't mean they….own us," Naruto stated definitely. "They treat us as….expendable play things….sending us to fight the...battles they don't wish to….fight, they force us to….serve them as if...our existence is to serve them….I refuse to believe that!" Another shock rushes through his system courtesy of a annoy Peridot.

She released the bottom with a knowing smirk, "that's enough propaganda from you,"

His form still smoking from the extra voltage running through him, he still refused to keep quiet. "P-Peridot….i-it's not too late for….you and Jasper," he whimpered, slowly raising his head to meet eye to eye with his once close friend. "Y-You don't have to be….Yellow Diamonds puppet...anymore,"

Peridot gritted her teeth, her floating finger hovering over the button, "be quiet,"

"Y-You two are...better than this…." He said, refusing to break eye contact with his captor, something that unsettled Peridot.

"I said be quiet," she repeated,

"You two…. _deserve_ better than this," he continued,

"I'm warning you!" Peridot's finger grew closer.

"I want you two...to be your own gems! Free of Yellow Diamonds….grasp! No matter what's happened in the past, I still wish to see every gem free to do what they will, that includes yo-AHHHHH!" He wailed as the voltage ripped through his body like a million tiny razor blades. Peridot, her face scrunched into a hideous frown, continued to hammer down on the button over and over again until she believed this preachy fool had enough.

"Are you done?" She hissed, watching as his withered from crumbles to the ground, his breath leaving him in one ragged, pained wheeze. "Good, I was growing tired of hearing you prattle on and on." Peridot harshly stated, focusing on her data screen. However, the more she let his words rummage around her head the more she felt like she needed to speak. "5 years, it's been 5 years since you abandoned us like we were nothing to you and yet here you are, pretending that you even care about us. Where was that care when we fought for you to keep you alive! Did those clods in the resistance do that for you?! Were they there when Yellow Diamond was calling for your execution? NO! It was Jasper and I who fought for your survival, it was Jasper and I who begged Yellow Diamond to hear your case rather than destroy you on the spot and it was Jasper and I who put our careers and loyalty into question just because we stood by you! And what did you do?! You stabbed us in the backs! You admitted to be a Resistance spy and even worse you tired to talk me and Jasper into joining you! We….we put everything on the line for you and….and all you did was throw it back into our faces…..you never cared about us, did you? No one who cared about someone else would do what you did, Obsidian...that's why I can _never_ forgive you for what you've done!"

"Peri….I'm sorry,"

"You don't have the right to say those words to me!" She paused, there was something she needed to know. Regardless of everything that happened there was one burning question that ate at her night and day for 5 years and now that she has the chance she couldn't pass it up. "...How long?"

"How long what?" He questioned,

"How long were you going to toy with me?!" She practically screamed, "I thought you were my friend, I thought we meant something to one another….but no, all you were doing was trying to get closer to me so you could rely more information to the Resistance, weren't you?! Admit it!" Peridot hissed through gritted teeth, a tremor going through her body - it was slight but Obsidian could see it. This was genuine emotion bleeding through Peridot's cold, analytical facade. Just like Jasper during the fight, Obsidian could see the damage he's done to these two gems he considered, at one time, to be the closest thing to friends he'd ever had.

"I wasn't. All the times we spent together, our friendship….that was all real, Perid-" He tried to defend himself but was silenced by Peridot.

"Liar!" She blurted out, her emotions getting the better of her at this moment. She didn't care what he said, all she needed right now was to release all of this pent up aggression and pain that laid in the back of her mind, waiting to be set free. "You could you expect me to believe that?! You used everyone else, how could you not use me as well! How stupid do you think I am?!"

"Peridot, please-"

"No, I'm done listening to your lies and I'm done with you!" She turned, prepared to leave only to turn her head ever so slightly, enough for one of her eyes to peer over her shoulder. "Now you are nothing more than a disgrace and a traitor to me, from now on I'll treat you as such." Leaving Naruto with such a devastating statement, Peridot took her leave to head towards the control room - the ship was about to break the Thermosphere and the ship needed some steady hands to get it through this thick layer of atmosphere. So, Peridot now off to do what she needed to do, Naruto was left alone with only his thoughts. What could he do now? His gem cracked from the pressure, his body beaten and his friends captured - he had nothing and could do nothing. This...this was one of the lowest moments of Naruto's life.

* * *

 ***!AUTHORS NOTE!* Sorry this one's a bit shorter than the other's but that's all I can do for now, I'll be getting a break from college and hopefully my job soon so maybe I can keep up on the updates a bit more but don't hold me to that PLEASE! Also, before you leave a review or sen** **d me a PM about this, I'd like to address it first. Yes, I'm well aware that I made Jasper a bit stronger than in canon and though, knowing my fans, I don't think it'll bother too many people, I would just like to explain why she was able to beat Naruto in this chapter. I've said through multiple chapters that seeing as Naruto's been on the bench for about 5 years because of his cracked gem he is A). A bit rusty at his skills that he used to use every single day(And if you don't think he should be rusty, I want you to stop doing a skill that you do everyday for five years and then tell me if you'd be rusty or not.)**

 **and B). Jasper has been fighting, training, and dominating all those 5 years trying to go stronger to bring Naruto back whether he wanted to or not. Also, in the chapter I started Steven's training, I stated that Naruto had trained and helped Jasper be a better fighter, meaning that she knows how Naruto fights to an extent, so that s another notch in her belt against Naruto. I didn't want this to seem insulting to those who have read my story and kept up with the Naruto I am trying to construct here (He's not a bad ass yet, he was before but because of his injury he's been knocked down a few pegs) but there have been a few people who send me PM's or Reviews saying "why's Naruto so weak?" or "I can stand reading this thing because you made Naruto a little bitch." and I knew I'd get more of those in droves if I didn't spend the time explaining why Naruto seems so weak right now. Don't worry, he'll gradually get better and back to his prime, but I wanted it to seem natural. I didn't want it to seem like him training for a month or two would make him just as good as he once was, that'd be foolish.**

 **Also, before anyone asks, no, the aura that surrounds Naruto at the end is not the Kyuubi chakra. It will be explained in a later chapter what exactly this aura around him is and where it comes from but just to say it now, it's not the Kyuubi chakra it's more like a parallel to the Kyuubi chakra. Now, some might wonder why I don't want it to be the Kyuubi chakra and that's simple, I don't really see, in the story aspect, how I could work with it. Sure, I could just say that he's Naruto's reincarnate and he has all of Naruto's powers and he just needed to awaken them in a moment of rage and stress but I just find that a bit cheap in a way, but don't get me wrong, if you like that concept then roll with it, that's great. I just wanted to run with something at parallels with the original Naruto but isn't exactly Naruto if that makes any sense.**

 **Anyway, sorry for the long Author's note, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope you'll leave a Review or PM me if you have any questions. Thank you and I hope you all have a wonderful day!**


	14. Behind the Veil pt 3

**Chapter 10**

 **Behind the Veil pt. 3: The Breaking Point**

 **I own Nothing**

"Naruto, Naruto! Hey, can you hear me?!" A voice called out to the damaged gem, breaking him from his stupor as he looked up to reveal non other than his pupil, Steven who's standing face to face with him within the cell.

"...S-Steven?" Asked Naruto, confused by the boy's sudden appearance.

"Yeah, it's me! Are you...are you alright?" Steven asked, seeing the dejected appearance of his teacher.

With a heavy sigh, Naruto answered, "no Steven, no I'm not…Everything is falling apart...and it's my fault," however, before he could continue his self loathing a questioned popped into his mind that he needed to address. "Wait….how did you...get in here?"

"Oh yeah, look at this!" Steven said in his usual bubbly attitude, slipping his arm through the barrier with moderate ease. However, as he does this, a web of green lines snaked their way across his arm, indicating to any observant viewer that, that wasn't really good for the young boy to do very often. "Isn't that cool?"

Naruto cocked a brow, "that doesn't look healthy,"

"Oh no, it's completely safe...I mean I knida feel a tingling sensation when I close my eyes but...you know what, never mind - let's get you out of here!" Steven said, rushing to his teacher's side in hopes of freeing him. However, once Steven got to Naruto's side he noticed the web of cracks making their way through his gem once more. "Wow, your gem is really messed up, did Jasper do this to you?"

"Surprisingly, no. The cracks in my gem were….self inflicted," he muttered,

Steven was confused by this, "what do you mean? Why would you crack your own gem?"

"It was a sacrifice I was willing to make to end the battle between me and Jasper...and as you can see, that sacrifice was in vain." He sighed in frustration as Steven began to do his part to heal Obsidian's damaged gem. "I was created with an unusual energy that rest within my gem, once tapped into it heightens my strength or speed to unmeasurable degrees, but that type of power comes at a price. In that form I'm technically a glass cannon, extremely powerful but easily broken; it's sole purpose is to be used to take down an enemy as quickly as possible, if I face a foe comparable or stronger than me at my max then I run the risk of cracking my gem the longer I rely on the power."

"Wow! No way, that sounds amazing! What can it do?" Steven wondered, licking his hand.

"W-Well…" He began, only to shiver as the lukewarm spit made contact with his broken gem. "E-Everytime I activate this ability I have two choices to pick from, either heightened speed or heightened strength, each takes from the other. If I pick speed, my strength takes a hit - same if I pick strength."

"Why haven't you used it before?" He wondered,

"I have used it in some instances," answered Obsidian, shifting slightly as the cracks in his gemstone began to heal - giving him back the energy he was sorely missing. "When my scythe's blade heats up, that's me transferring my energy safely to my weapon to heat it. I didn't use it for my body because that technique is used only in a last resort, I refuse to use it to win a fight I know I can win without it."

"Steven! Steven, where the heck did you go?!" A voice whispered harshly through the empty halls, catching the two's attention. Walking aimlessly outside the closed cell was a lonely Ruby gem, searching hectically for Steven, "I looked away for five seconds and he just up and diss-" before she could continue, however, her eyes met with the two locked within said cell, her words now stuck in her throat.

"Oh, sorry - I didn't mean to leave you behind, it's just I found one of my friends and I-" Steven began but his words were drowned out by their new guest.

"You!" She yelled, pointing a single digit in the direction of the shackled Naruto. "You're the whole reason we're in this mess! You're the reason me and Sapphire were separated!"

"U-Ummm," was all Naruto could muster before Ruby's attention was shifted down the hallway as a low yet audible hum began to reverberate throughout the hallway,

"Shh!...Do you hear it? The song, it's getting louder! We're growing closer to Sapphire, we need to hurry," She all but yelled as she seemed to merely pace back and forth, waiting for Steven to follow her.

Turning to face his pupil, Naruto asked, "Steven, do you know that Ruby?"

"Not really, I found her in one of the cells near mine and decided to help her out but she doesn't really seem too happy to see you. Is this another long, lost friend of yours?" Steven questioned in return,

"I hope not, I think I've had enough of surprise returns for one lifetime," Naruto chuckled as Steven slipped his hands through the green energy beam that kept his restraints firmly in place, unlocking it from the ground. Once freed, Naruto ignites his red aura and snaps his restraints, freeing his hands once again. "Thank you, Steven. Now, let's get out of here and save the others,"

"No problem," Steven rushed to the cell barrier as he slipped his arm through it, blocking the barrier's stream in that area, allowing Obsidian to duck and roll out of the cell with ease. Once out, said gem was greeted by the red ball of rage, Ruby, who took a swing at Naruto with her glove like gauntlet which narrowly missed.

"You traitor! Sapphire was right - you would betray us, her predictions are never wrong...but I didn't listen, I was too blind." Ruby yelled, taking another swing at Naruto. "Well, I'm not going to make that mistake again!"

"Wow, wow! Easy, Ruby" Steven jumped between the two, forcing Ruby to halt her assault on Naruto. "Obsidian is my friend and without him we won't even make it to Sapphire, we won't stand a chance against Jasper if she spots us. Now, whatever history you have with Naruto needs to be put aside for Sapphire, right?" He asked but Ruby didn't seem too willing to agree. "Right?!"

"FINE!" She yelled, her fierce temper still quite apparent, "but after I find Sapphire, I don't want you anywhere near me and her, got it?!"

"Crystal," Naruto answered, picking himself up.

"Good, now let's head out! I think she's this way!" She yelled before rushing off down the hallway, quickly followed by Steven and obsidian.

" _Who the hell is that Ruby and how does she know me? She seems so...familiar,"_

* * *

"No, no, no! She stopped singing!" Ruby hissed, skidding to a halt as she frantically looked back and forth, hoping to find some direction to take that might get her closer to her destination. "Sapphire!" Ruby yelled, belligerently yelling her friend's name while Steven and Obsidian use this time of confusion to assess something that they weren't able to address moments ago. Next to them was a window, the single port they've seen that's allowed them to look outside the ship to gather their bearings. Naruto was the first to look, finding himself stunned by the immense beauty of space and yet a deep, guttural feeling of dread knowing that every second they waste the harder it will be to bring this ship back to earth safely.

But before either Steven or Naruto could get too used to this view, they spot Ruby running off towards another direction, practically leaving them behind in the dust. Picking up the pace, both Steven and Naruto caught up with the stumpy legged gem just in time to see another prisoner of this battle, however, it wasn't the one they were looking for.

Ruby grew excited, believing that maybe it was her supposed Sapphire but on further inspection, a frown took over as she glared daggers toward the water gem known as Lapis Lazuli. "Oh, it's just you." She muttered while Steven brushed past her, elated to see one of his long lost friends.

"Lapis!" He cheered, catching the attention of the blue haired prison bird. She looked back to see the three gems standing outside her cell, her face more than read fear and alarm. "I can get you out," Steven chimed, stepping towards the cell barrier, prepared to break out Lapis just like he did for the others.

"Stop!" Lapis decried, backing up from the entrance of her cell,

"It's okay, I won'-" His encouragement was cut short,

"No! I don't want your help. Things are bad enough as it is. I've already made too much trouble. Once we get back to homeworld, they're going to decided what to do with us," Lapis explained, elevating a frown form Naruto. If there was one thing that annoyed him more than anything was someone who's willing to give up so easily without even putting up a fight.

"I know what they're going to do to us and it won't be for the better," Naruto explained, taking a step towards the cell as he addressed the gloomy blue skinned gem. "All we can do now is fight,"

"Fighting? What has fighting ever done but cause more trouble?!" Lapis fired back, "I stood up for Steven and look at where that landed me, a cell like some traitor like you! I won't abandon my homeworld and I won't allow myself to get into anymore trouble than I already am!"

Naruto's face scrunched up into a frown as he leaned forward, "you think keeping your head bowed will save you?! I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you've already stepped out of line, Yellow Diamond has no use for people who defect! You're a liability! You will be terminated the second we land, but if you stand with us and fight you'll have a chance at a free life!"

Lapis did the same, getting more heated the longer this argument went on. "What's so free about living on that dirt ball of a planet, I'll just be trading one prison for another!"

Steven, once again tired to be the voice of reason, trying to stay in the middle of the two so their attention may be directed at him and not each other. "Come on guys, yelling isn't going to help u-"

Ruby groaned like a snarling animal, tugging at her headband viciously as the idea of living one more second without Sapphire was eating at her, "I don't have time for this!" She barked, running down the hallway, back from whence they came, hoping that their might be another way to her precious gem.

"Wait," Steven called out to Ruby but found that words weren't going to be enough to stop her.

"Steven," Lapis called, catching the young boy's attention, "whatever you're doing, just stop. If we do everything they say, they might go easy on us."

Steven was surprised at what Lapis had just said, "but they're...mean. They hurt my friends. They hurt my face. They've got you here in prison!"

"That's why we can't fight them." Lapis stated, worried about the action Steven might take that will harm both him and all who are imprisoned here in this ship.

"That's why we have to fight them!" Both Steven and Naruto answered,

Naruto gave one last look to Lapis, his eyes stern yet worried for the gem's mindset. "If we give up now, they'll never stop hurting others. If you give them an inch they'll take a mile,"

"Lapis, please - come join us," but their was no answer, she merely turned and faced the wall - dejected and unresponsive. "...W-We'll come back for you," Steven whispered before heading off in the direction of Ruby, soon followed by Obsidian who shot Lapis one final glance before taking his leave.

As the two continued, ducking and weaving through hallway after hallway they picked up on the singing that was supposedly coming from Sapphire. Taking the next right, the two almost ran smack dap into Peridot and Jasper, who were stomping down the hallways, Jasper's features screaming rage and contempt. Swiftly, Naruto scooped up Steven and placed his hand over his mouth before straightening himself on the adjacent wall as they both watched Jasper and Peridot walk on by.

"Why aren't we moving!" Jasper yelled to Peridot who recoiled in fear,

"I-I'm sorry, Jasper but Yellow Diamond ordered me to tell you!" Peridot lemented, "we cannot leave just yet, the whole point of us coming here was to check on the Clust-"

"Shut up in there!" Jasper yelled, kicking the cell wall surrounding a certain captured gem. "Obsidian and Rose Quartz takes priority! Get back to the bridge and set a course for homeworld like I told you too!"

Peridot tried to refute her superior officer, "but, Yellow Dia-"

"Enough!" Jasper snarled, inching closer to her startled underling until she was back against the wall. "Either do as I command or I'll shoot you out of the airlock, understood?!"

Peridot nodded quickly, "y-yes, Jasper!"

"Good, now get moving!" And with that, the grumbling behemoth stormed off, leaving Peridot to head for the bridge and set the corrodens, unaware of the two jail birds making their way towards the singing cell that housed a rather interesting looking gem.

"Hey, I like your song," he whispered, stopping before the cell. "Are you Sapphire?"

"You escaped," she answered plainly, only to see exactly how such a feat was done when Steven shoved his hand into the barrier, cleaving through it like butter. "Of course," she muttered before Steven stepped through the barrier and held up his arms, giving Sapphire an easy way out which she took with grace. "Thank you, Steven and you too, Obsidian. I'm glad to see that both of you are safe,"

"You're welcome," Steven said, pulling himself from the barrier only for a question to pop into his mind. "Wait, how did you know our na-"

"SAPPHIRE!" Yelled a voice that both Steven and Obsidian have been growing all too familiar with over the past couple of minutes.

"Come on," Sapphire ordered, grabbing Steven's arm before whisking him away with blistering speeds, quickly followed by Naruto who felt rather left out. Zipping through corridor after corridor, Sapphire, Steven and Obsidian found their way to Ruby who stood on the opposite end of a massive room, nearly shaking with anxiety. However, once the two locked eyes, everything seemed to fall to the waist side. "Ruby!" Sapphire yelled with joy, rushing to greet her love just as Ruby did the same, meeting in the middle with a loving embrace.

Once they had their little hug, Ruby went straight away into looking her over, making sure she wasn't harmed in any way. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, no. I'm okay," Sapphire answered, gripping Ruby's hand tightly. "Did they hurt you?"

"I-I'm fine...b-but none of this would have happened if it wasn't for him!" Ruby began only for her rage to shift towards the blonde gem standing behind Sapphire.

"Ruby, that's not true. He's not our enemy," Sapphire infrared, keeping her small partner at bay with her words.

"But you predicted it, Sapphire. You were right, you are always right! He was going to betray us and get us in this mess! How could we possibly-" Ruby began to ramble,

"This was not my prediction," Sapphire said with a light chuckle,

"W-What?" Ruby murmured,

"I saw that his demons would come back to haunt us, I never said he'd betray us - he never has," Sapphire said, taking a glance towards the gem in question before continuing. "Just like all of the Crystal Gems, Obsidian has a past that haunts him, it's just unfortunate that his past has come to our present,"

Ruby gaze shifted to the floor, almost embarrassed at her actions leading up to this reveal. "S-So...he didn't betray us?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Sapphire answered, "though you did lie to us, that I can't tolerate."

Steven, who's been mostly silent through this whole ordeal, could only scratch his head in confusion. "...I'm still very confused, how do you two know Obsidian?!"

The two looked at each other, a smile slowly creeping onto one another's lips. Ruby reached for Sapphire, scooping her up in a twirl that grew more and more faster until Ruby's feet lifted from the ground, both bodies illuminating in a form of pure light all the while their two giggling laughter began to form into one. Once done the form of one of the Crystal Gem's prime time players appeared before both Obsidian and Steven, Garnet! "Steven!" She chuckled, landing before the amazed boy. "Thank you,"

"Garnet," Steven muttered, shocked at this new development. "You're a fusion!?"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. We didn't want you meeting us like this," She apologized,

Steven merely snickered, "well, did I make a good first impression?"

"Oh, Steven. We already love you," she smiled warmly as she grazed his cheek with her hand, before her attention soon turned to Obsidian who stood in a shocked stupor just as Steven did moments before. "And Obsidian, thank you as well for helping put us back together,"

"N-No problem," he muttered, the shock slowly fading to reveal a smirk. "I guess it was good to finally meet the two gems that make up Garnet, though I wish I would have known, I would have tried to put my best foot forward."

Garnet smiled, "well, Ruby wouldn't have been too happy to meet you regardless."

"Y-Yeah, about that - I'm-" He began, only for Garnet to silence him before he could even finish.

"Don't mention it," she said, "Ruby's a bit of a hot head, she'll lash out if she thought you had anything to do with hurting Sapphire. If anyone should apologize, it would be me."

With a chuckle Naruto placed a hand on his teammate's shoulder, "well, we both have things that we're sorry for."

"Where is he?!" A vicarious voice yelled from far away, a voice the group has grown accustomed to hearing at this point.

"Speaking of which," Naruto remarked before turning to his pupil. "Steven, find the others and get to the control bridge."

"But I don't know where they are." Steven said, only for Garnet to plant a tender kiss to his forehead. Giving him just a hint of her future vision powers. "Future vision," he cheered, honing in to Amethyst and Pearl's location. "Wait, are you two going to be able to beat her?"

"Don't worry, Steven. Garnet and I won't lose that easily," Obsidian remarked, turning towards the entrance he could hear Jasper's hefty footsteps approaching from. "Now go, we're counting on you."

With Steven booking it towards their imprisoned friends, Garnet and Obsidian only had a moment to themselves before Jasper stormed in. "Are you sure you're still up for this?" Garnet asked,

A chuckle left his lips, "that's funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."

But their playful little banter was cut short as Jasper skidded into view, her face twisted into a scowl as she looked over the two. "Oh, great. You're both out?" She remarked bitterly, "fine, you think that two puny runts slammed together and a broken gem can take me on? Ha! That's laughable, how about you two quiet embarrassing yourselves! I've seen what you two really are!"

Garnet chuckled, soon followed by Obsidian - "No, you haven't." Garnet mussed as she summoned her glasses along with her powerful gauntlets, prepared to throw down once more with the belligerent gem.

"You never have and you never well," Naruto stated, snapping his scythe into existence as he took up a stance - a noticeable red aura hovering over his form. "We will end this right here, right now!"

"Try it, see how far your weakness will take you!" and with that, the three charged forward, meeting in the middle for a climactic battle!

* * *

"Pearl, Amethyst!" Steven yelled, running through the barren hallway of the prison portion of this ship, booking it around every corner and down every corridor looking for his friends. Even though Garnet gave him a glimpse into the future that still doesn't mean that this place doesn't look exactly the same no matter how many corners he turned. How could anyone navigate these almost endless hallways without some sort of guide or map? This was impossible. And yet, just when Steven was about to turn back in hopes that he might have not seen them, a voice called out to him - one belonging to one of his Crystal Gem teammates.

"Steven!" Pearl yelled from her cell, catching his attention just in time. "Oh my goodness, how did you escape?!"

"We don't have much time to explain, Garnet and Naruto are facing off against Jasper and we need to get to the control panel, now!" Steven explained, jumping through the barrier with relative ease, shocking both Amethyst and Pearl with such a display.

Pearl was the first to speak, "what?! Steven, we need to keep Garnet away from Obsidian, he's dangerous!"

Steven looked to Pearl, confusion written clear as day across his face. "No way, what are you talking about?"

"Amethyst told me everything, Obsidian once was the right hand of Yellow Diamond! He's been lying to us since day one, he can't be trusted." Pearl informed him, "I knew it, I knew we shouldn't trust him but no, of course, Pearl is just a loon, she only sees the bad in people...and to think I compared him to Ro-...nevermind, we don't have time to discuss this. We need to go and help Garnet!"

Steven's eyes widened, startled at such a statement. "...N-No, that's not right. Naruto would have told us if he-" he began, only for Amethyst to jump in with her own two cents

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but apparently he pulled the wool over all of our eyes, Steven." She muttered bitterly, her words thick with sadness and contempt for this whole situation.

"Amethyst, not you too." Steven muttered, disheartened by how upset Amethyst seemed by this information. However, Steven wasn't ready to simply just write off his teacher so easily. "...Look, this doesn't make any sense! Naruto has been helping us combat Jasper and Peridot this whole time, he's put his gem on the line time and time again to make sure this world was safe! If he was still the right hand of Yellow Diamond then why would he even have helped us?"

"I-I don't know, Steven, but all I do know is that right now Obsidian can't be trust around Garnet, we need to go and help her!" Pearl answered,

"No, we have to get to the control room right away, Peridot's about to set us on a direct course to Homeworld!" Pearl pondered on what Steven told her, biting her thumb as she did so. "Whatever problems we have with Naruto, we have to put on hold until we're safely back on earth, Pearl! Come on, I know if the roles were different you'd be saying something like this too!"

"...H-He's right, right now getting back to earth is more important." Pearl nodded, turning her attention to her sulking partner in the corner. "Amethyst, we need to get Peridot."

"Alright, whatever." She mumbled as she hopped from her bench with a heavy sigh, still showing signs of sadness and betrayal from this new development regarding her favorite gem.

"Alright! Now let's get going," he cheered before placing himself between the barrier and his trapped comrades, giving them an opening to crawl through. Once freed the three made their way to the control room, weapons in hand, each worried about what awaited ahead. As the rounded a corner a hefty thud shook the hull of the ship, stumbling the trio rather harshly.

Pearl turned to face the direction the attack came from, "please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

"Pearl, we have to go," Steven said,

"B-But what if-"

"Pearl!" She hesitated, a fear for her friend's well being still fresh in her mind but she knew that what they needed to do was more important. Like Steven said, we'll deal with Naruto's deception when they land safely back on earth. Turning back to the group, Pearl lead the way towards the control room which was mere feet away.

"What the heck are those fools doing back their? If they destroy my ship I'll-" Peridot muttered, hammering away at her LED keys, trying to keep the ship stable enough to move, however, her concentration was cut short when the doors to the bridge opened, revealing three more escaped prisoners. "No, no, no! You three won't stop me from getting away from this damned planet!" She hissed, equipping herself with her own gem destabilizer before going for Steven only for it to prove rather ineffective.

Steven grabbed hold of her weapon, merely buzzing the young boy a bit before both Pearl and Amethyst dog piled the lanky yellow gem, making quick work of her by simply binding her in Amethyst's whip. "Humph, for a gem who talked a lot of game you really didn't put up much of a fight,"

"Get off me, you clods don't know what you're doing!" Peridot yelled, watching as Pearl takes the helm of the ship, cracking her fingers and preparing to fly this ship safely down to earth. "No, don't touch that!"

"You got this Pearl," Amethyst encouraged, pulling tighter on Peridot's restraints while Pearl lowers her hands onto the holographic screen.

"Alright ship, turn us around!" She declared, trying to sound more sure of her abilities with this tech than she actually was. Once her hands touched the see through screen however, a surge of energy and information surged through her - distorting her eyes into nothing but static.

"U-Umm, Pearl are you alright?" Steven asked as Pearl merely sat their, a low, audible groan the only thing leaving her lips as she continued to connect with the ship's system. While this continued, another shock rocked the ship but this time it affected it much more than simply shaking it. A heavy explosion irrupted through the outer hull of the ship, knocking out most of the power to the ship but unfortunately, seeing as the ship was close enough to be affected by the gravitational pull of the earth, the stranded ship began to slowly get sucked down towards the earth itself. "Oh no, what now?!"

* * *

As the ship began to fall from its original trajectory, both Obsidian and Garnet round a corner just in time to escape a rampant explosion caused by their little scuffle with Jasper. "Why is the ship going down?"

"Because, you threw Jasper into one of the ship's power cells. This ship is massive, meaning that if you take out even a single power cell, the ship will start to fall! We need to get to the bridge," Obsidian answered as they both turn another corner. "If we hurry, I can possibly save us from a devastating crash!"

"How could you do that?" Garnet wondered,

"I'll steal one of Peridot's limb enhancers, those are the only things that can control the holographic functionality of this ship. Once I got those I can- AHHHHH!" Naruto began to explain only to feel something harshly grip onto his ankle before pulling him through a thick ship flooring to the next floor.

"Obsidian!" Garnet yelled, prepared to jump down and help one of her comrades in arm only to be stopped by said comrade.

"Forget about me! Go save the others!" He yelled before a string of grunts and heavy thuds filled the air. "I-I'll hold off Jasper!"

"You can't handle her on your ow-" The ship jumped, braking through the first layer of earth's hefty atmosphere, the Thermosphere.

"Get going, now! This is my fight and I have to be the one to finish it! Keep the other's safe, they're the only ones that matter." With a heavy heart, Garnet abandoned Obsidian as he commanded and headed towards the bridge, prepared to do whatever it took to protect her friends.

* * *

"Well, well, well - haven't you become the self righteous hero in my absence!" She yelled, chucking Naruto across the room like a rag doll, sending him crashing into a wall with a hefty thud. "And for a fusion no less, a few years ago I'd spit at such a display, but I hate to be a hypocrite. I know just how it feels to be one with someone else!" She said, stalking over to Naruto with predator like procession. Jumping to his feet, Naruto snaps his weapon back to life, prepared to face off against Jasper one more time.

"Jasper, even you know that we're all in mortal danger!" He argued, trying to keep a good yard of distance between the two. "At this height and with the ship's built up speed, we'll all surely shatter when we hit Earth!"

"Well then, that gives me more motivation to pop you and escape this falling ship," She hummed rather cryptically, rushing Naruto's position, gem destabilizer in hand, only to miss by an inch as he ducked under her reach and slashed at her thigh, only nicking her in the process. She stumbled but stands firm, turning back towards him with a stern look. "Prolonging the inevitable won't pan out like you think," she said, pacing towards him while he kept his distance. "Either way one of us has to give and my resolve is solid, what about yours?"

"I'll stop at nothing to protect the people I care most about and if that means I have to go through you, then so be it!"

"Your words are as hollow as your threats," she hissed, tightening her fist for battle. "You've done nothing to truly stop me, the Naruto I knew wouldn't hesitate to try and cut me to ribbons and yet here you are, talking to me when you should be fighting!" She yelled, rushing him once more only for him to try and escape yet again and yet when he tried to bound over her shoulder his ankle was caught by Jasper's mighty grip. It only took Jasper a second before she threw Obsidian to the ground, bashing him against the thick flooring of this ship. Before he could even try and get up, Jasper dropped her knee onto his sternum, driving the air out of his chest as she pinned his arms high above his head.

"J-Jasper,-"

"Enough!" She yelled, glaring him down as the whole ship grew quiet. The ship plummeting through the atmosphere, the rattle exterior of the ship, all the debris slamming against the hull, all of it was drowned out by this singular moment. Jasper looked down at Naruto, her eyes held rage and yet, surprisingly, a sense of sadness as she looked into his, a mix of pain and confusion. "Quit fighting it, just stop it!"

"W-What are you talking abou-"

"Quit pretending to be something you're not! These...Crystal Gems have stuffed your head with lies! You're not a defender, you're not a rebel...you're _my_ Obsidian," She looked down at him, almost a hint of vulnerability in her words. "All those years we've spent as a team, they can't mean nothing! All the missions, the battles…..the fusions, you can't tell me that you've just thrown it all away!"

"...I-I could...never," he whispered,

"Then why do you resist!? Why do you keep pretending like none of that meant anything to you?!" She asked fervently, a question that seemed to be eating away at Jasper's very being.

"T-Those moments...meant everything...to me, but it doesn't….blind me to the travesties we….committed on behalf of….Y-Yellow Diamond," he answered,

Jasper snapped back, "what does any of that matter!? Yellow Diamond has nothing to do about us!"

"It has...e-everything to do with us," he retorted, "I-It has to do with….e-every gem, t-this is...bigger than you and I...J-Jasper,"

"..." Her grip tightens around Obsidian's wrists as her helmet comes to life, the protective glass shielding her eyes from Naruto's sight. "Last offer, give up and come quietly,"

"N-No, I wo-" but before he could finish his sentence Jasper railed him with a dead center hit with her helmet directly onto his face, denting the floor with how impactful such a hit was.

"Again, give up!"

"...N-No-" another landed it's mark, silencing his statement even further.

"Again!"

"N-"

"GIVE UP!"

"No!-"

"AHHHHHHHH!" She yelled, dropping three more heavy hits against Naruto's, his body now limp only twitching from the devastating hammer strikes against his cranium. With her tantrum over, Jasper slowly released her hold on Naruto and, without warning, placed a single hand on his cheek, a single tear left her as she dispersed her weapon of choice, showing the true bitter sadness that has morphed her face to an almost unrecognizable degree.

"Damnit, why did you have to make me do this to you," he didn't respond, all the movement he could muster was his eyes shifting ever once and awhile around the room. "You...You brought this on yourself, I've tried everything to make you see reason but...you're too damn stubborn! You've always been too stubborn for your own good!" The more she talked the old Jasper started to leak through as she tightened her grip on his skull the longer she spoke.

"And even back then, I gave you everything! I did everything I could to get you to see me for more than just a…..I-I even fused with you, a sick, perverse deed that if Yellow Diamond found out we'd both be shattered...and yet I did it for you! And this is how you repay me! By betraying me! By spitting in my face!" She pulled forward, bringing Naruto's face closer to hers - her eyes now glaring deep within his. She paused, almost waiting for an answer from the seemingly comatose opponent before letting out a stress filled sigh. She dropped his head back to the ground, "but it doesn't matter anymore, you'll be coming back with me and that's the end of that."

As Jasper went to stand she stopped when Naruto whispered, "J-Jasper,"

"What?" She asked, turning to face her victim.

"I-I'm….s-sorry,"

"Sorry?" She was taken aback by this, she inched closer. "Sorry for what?"

"T-This!" He yelled before firing up, activating the Gem Destabilizer that he had snagged from Jasper's belt. Before Jasper could even try and stop his advancement, the destabilizer was already dug deep into her gut, sending volt after volt of green energy through her body like a living buzz zapper. As the stubborn bull she's been known to be, she fought against the weapon, refusing to be dispelled like others before her did. With her last amount of energy, she raised her hand to Naruto's cheek one last time, her features mixed with betrayal, hatred and misery.

"P-Please…D-DON'T!"

"I-I'm sorry!" Were his final words to his once long standing friend, slapping away her hand before digging the tip of the weapon deeper into Jasper's abdomen one last time, exploding her physical form into a hiss of smoke, leaving behind her very existence, her gem. Slowly making his way towards the discharged gem, Naruto picks it up with a level of care he knew Jasper would never show his gem. Once in hand, Naruto stared down at it with an almost uncharacteristically numb expression, his appearance looking as if he's been through hell 1,000 times now.

Naruto went to take another step but found himself unable to do so, dropping him too a single knee; his vision began to blur as the toll of those repeated blows to his head took effect. " _I-I can't….move,"_ he thought, falling once more but this time onto his back, splayed out on the floor for all to see. " _I-Is this where my….story ends? Beaten...a-and broken?"_

* * *

"Steven! Can you give me a status report, cause from back here this ride's getting kinda bumpy!" Amethyst questioned, bouncing up and down on top of Peridot as the ship began to shake and stir in it's decent.

"I don't know what's happening, Pearl isn't moving!"

"What?!" Amethyst questioned heatedly, jumping from her position on top of the tech-savvy gem to check on the situation and as Steven said, Pearl hasn't moved or done practically anything for a solid minute, even though the ship is freaking plummeting towards the Earth at ludicrous speeds. "Hey, earth to Pearl?! What the heck is wrong with her?"

"I don't know," Steven answered

"Peridot! You know what's happen- Hey!" she turned to find said gem worming her way towards the center of the room, prepared to activate her secret escape pod hidden within the floor of her flight deck. Amethyst rushed to stop her, wrestling with the bound gem like a flopping fish pulled fresh from the sea, just as Garnet made her entrance. "Garnet! You're okay!" Amethyst cheered while still trying to wrangle this obnoxious tech wizard.

"Keep her still, we need her limb enhancers!" Garnet ordered, making her way quickly towards the two gems flopping around on the ground.

Once Garnet's plan was heard by Peridot she became even more adamant about escaping Amethyst's hold on her, "oh no! I refuse to let any of you fools take my limb enhancers!" She yelled, flailing just enough to slip out of Amethyst's small arms and directly on the spot she needed to be on. Once situated, a jell like orb formed around her, prepared to shoot down to planet earth safely but when the Crystal Gems are around, there's no such thing as a perfect plan.

As the jell pod began to close, Garnet slipped her gauntlets into the crack of the ship - causing said pod to halt its extraction until the pod was fully closed. "You clods! I won't be stuck on a crashing ship with a bunch of simple minded simpletons! Let go, let go!"

"Not a chance," Garnet answered, wrestling her hand into the pod to hopefully retrieve what she wanted. As she wrestled once more with the slippery little gem, Peridot tried to take action against this rude fusion. Without warning, Peridot aimed her limb enhanced finger towards Garnet as it shifted into a weapon of sorts, allowing her to fire off a round almost directly into Garnet's hairdo; thankfully she dodged before it buzzed her square afro.

"Eat plasma!" Peridot yelled childishly, rapidly firing her new weapon off randomly, hoping to catch one of the Crystal Gems off guard, to no avail. Dodging each shot with relative ease, Garnet simply reached in and gripped Peridot's arm and went to rip it off only for one last shot to go off, catching her shoulder.

Recoiling in pain, Garnet subconsciously released the pod, allowing the slippery little weasel to escape with all of her limb enhancers.

"Garnet, are you alright?!" Amethyst asked, rushing to her side.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit with far worse," Garnet reassured her friend, nursing her tender shoulder for a bit.

"That's a relief," Amethyst sighed. "But how are we supposed to stop this ship now? Without her limb whatever's we're screwed,"

"Well, I might not have gotten her whole limb, but I think I've got the next best thing." Garnet smirked as she presented a single digit of Peridot's enhancer; it wasn't much but it's all they had right now and it will have to do. Picking herself up, Garnet took charge and tapped the finger against the holographic screen and, thankfully, the screen reacted to it.

"Great, it works." Steven cheered, only for his smile to be replaced with an inquisitive stare. "...but does anyone know what this stuff means?" He asked, looking at this strange, nonsensical screen of lights and shapes that no normal individual could actually read let alone control.

"Not a clue," Answered Amethyst, shrugging her shoulders as per usual in a stressful situation,

"Nope," Garnet answered simply, shaking her head in abject confusion.

"H-Huh? What? W-Where am I?" Pearl asked, finally slipping out of her knowledge trance as she stared down towards the blinking screens and shifting symbols with a new found air of knowledge and understanding that she never thought she'd have in such a short amount of time.

"Pearl, you're back!" Steven cheered, latching onto her leg with a bone crushing hug.

"You had us worried there for a moment, I thought you were gonna be stuck like that," Amethyst jeered, jabbing Pearl with an elbow.

Garnet laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's good to have you back, Pearl but we can celebrate that later, we need to find a way to stop this ship,"

"I-I think I know how to," Pearl mumbled, still scanning the interface like a madman.

"What?" Amethyst asked,

"I think I know how to slow down the ship," Pearl repeated,

Amethyst looked a bit skeptical, "how in the world do you know how to do something like that?"

Pearl looked to her hands, the very thing that connected her to this console in the first place. "I-I don't know, it's just...after I touched this console for so long, these symbols started making some sense to me. Now, by no means am I an expert, but I might be able to slow it down."

"If there's a chance that we can make it out of here alive, we need to take it." She said, "here," Garnet thrusted the finger forward, creeping Pearl out for a moment before seldomly taking it,

"Thanks, now….w-which symbol represents the stabilizers?" she murmured, hovering Peridot's removed robot finger over the screen, hoping that she might find the right one. "Well...let's try...this one!" She said, tapping the symbol in the right hand corner, regretting that decision almost immediately. Once touched, the entire ship's power system shut down, leaving the ship without lights and such. Quickly tapping the screen again, the ship's power sprung back to life. "Okay, not that one, never that one!"

"I thought you said he knew what you were doing?!" Amethyst barked, dropping to the floor as the ship took another hit from entering another atmospheric layer.

Pearl whipped around, glaring heatedly at Amethyst. "I haven't been studying this for years, Amethyst! I'm still very new at this and I'd appreciate some support!"

"And I'd like to know that we won't explode because you clicked the wrong button!" Amethyst retorted, allowing her feelings get the better of her in such a high tensioned situation.

"Enough!" Garnet barked, stomping her foot down to get her team's attention. "We don't need you two bickering when our lives are hanging in the balance!" She said before turning to Pearl to give her a bit of positive reinforcement. "Alright Pearl, try again. You'll get the right one, I know it."

"T-Thanks Garnet," she released a sigh of relief before straightening in her chair and taking another look at the screens. "Alright, let's try this again."

* * *

While the remaining Crystal Gems continue to try and do some damage control for this dive bombing warship, Lapis Lazuli still remains silent and oblivious to everything that's happening around her, merely wishing to stay in her own little cell - hoping the problem might fix itself. A part of her didn't understand by these fools continued to face danger after danger, threat after threat when all it does is break you each and every time, never free, never safe. They're sadists, maybe? Maybe they can't leave well enough alone, they have to mess with it and upset the status quo. Whatever it may be, it's only going to lead to their downfall, something Lapis wanted no part in...that is, until she saw a familiar face in a very unfavorable position.

Fumbling into sight was the blonde rebel himself, barely able to stand let alone continue forward with the ship shifting and twisting without warning. He seemed quite different from the last time she saw him; instead of standing tall and speaking absolutes, he's hunched and a look of defeat was evident across his face - this was not the same man Lapis came face to face with minutes ago. As he goes to take another step his body shifted with the movement of the ship, sending him down to the ground with a heavy thud.

Lapis watched as he tried to pick himself back up from the ground only to end up back on the floor, his body now going limp from lack of energy. " _What does he think he's doing?"_ Lapis thought, watching his failing with a critical eye, " _where's he going? What does he think he's going to accomplish working himself half to death? If...If he'd just did what I told him to do none of this would be happening. We wouldn't be careening towards Earth in a broken ship with no pilot! Why on earth did they leave their cel-"_

"L-Lapis," While Lapis was busy blaming Naruto for putting her in such an awful situation, said blonde had inched his way towards her cell, placing himself right outside it with his back placed comfortably by the plain wall next to her cell. "Are you...a-alright?"

"What?" She asked, cocking her brow ever so slightly.

He shifted his weight, trying to find a comfortable position for his battered body. "I asked...a-are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that question, you look like you've been-" She began only to see the pulverized blonde finish her sentence for her.

"Through...a-a war? Yeah...k-kinda happens when you're...hit in the head 5 times by J-Jasper's...helmet." He muttered, running a finger or two over the nasty bruises he's got. "O-Or was it 7? I-I can't...keep track," He chuckled, only to wince at the pain such a simple laugh brought his aching head.

Lapis was confused, "how could you make a joke at a time like this?" She asked, getting a shrug in return.

"...H-Humor can keep us...sane in dreadful t-times," he answered plainly, "like this one,"

I calming silence coated the hallway before a single question came to Lapis mind that she needed to address. "Was it worth it?"

"W-Was what...worth it?" He asked back,

"The beating, was it all worth it to get the stuffing beaten out of you by Jasper?"

"Well...I-I won so, kinda...yeah." Naruto said with a cheeky smile, lifting up Jasper's gem for Lapis to inspect. "I may...be e-extremely sore in the morning...but I'm p-putting a-away a...powerful enemy, that's….a win i-in my book."

"...Y-You beat...Jasper? But how?!" She asked, blown away that this gem could even hold a candle to that beastly creature she called jasper.

"I...used my h-head," he smiled, tapping his extremely sore head, snickering all the while.

"That's not funny," she murmured, trying to hide her sneaker.

"I-It's kinda funny," he snickered once he noticed a smile start to break through Lapis's usually stoic features. But Naruto's smile soon vanished as he knew there was something he needed to say to Lapis Lazuli and it couldn't be postponed. With a stern look and an open heart, Naruto began, "I-I know how it...feels, t-to want everything to….go b-back to how things u-used to be. T-To just bury y-your...head in t-the sand, h-hoping that someday you can just...g-go home, but once y-you...light that f-fire, it w-will...never go out. Y-You can never...u-unsee the injustice and tyranny o-of your leader...and y-your people, y-you can never...l-look at your home a-again….without seeing the b-bodies that line it. I don't blame you for being afraid...but know this, it's worse to hid than it is to fight."

"..." Lapis remained silent, reflecting on his words for but a moment before he started to get up and head towards the control room. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I've got to...g-go help some old f-fashioned gems land a-a….h-high tech gem warship or we're n-not going to last v-very long," he said, before turning slightly to face Lazuli. "A-Also, I'd s-suggest staying...i-in your cell. Y-you're much safer i-in their than o-out here. W-Wish me luck,"

" _Good luck,"_ She thought because a part of her refused to say something like that out loud.

* * *

"We're still coming in too fast, I've done everything I can but nothing is working!" Pearl all but screamed as she gripped the stolen digit tightly in her hand, fearful as they approach the Earth, growing ever closer the longer they try to delay it.

Amethyst was growing anxious as their only option for survival went up in smoke right before her eyes. "What can we do, we can't just stand here!"

"My bubble shield can protect us," Steven suggested,

"I believe that's the only option we have at the moment," Garnet answered, "everyone gather around!" She commanded, rallying everyone away from the front of the ship.

"What about Lapis?" Steven wondered, his heart always set in the right place even in the face of danger.

"There's no time! We've got 5 minutes before impact!" As the group gathered around Steven, prepared to wade out this drop within Steven's magical bubble, the door opened - revealing a battered Naruto and with him was something no individual thought he would have, one of Peridot's arms.

"I knew she left a spare around here somewhere," he sighed as he makes his way towards the console, "I-I'd suggest staying in that bubble, I'm not 100% sure how to drive this. I'm basing this off of years watching Peridot do it and a few simulators I did during my training, which was about a good 5, 000 years ago."

"But what happens if we can't stop it, you could be shattered!" Steven asked,

Naruto could only answer that question the best he could. "With the time we have, I can't stop it from crashing regardless of what I do but I can do two things, I can redirect it to a body of water and I can slow it down. With that done I should be able to survive….I think,"

Steven didn't like the sound of that, "you think?" He asked, worry plain as day in his voice.

"Yeah, it's a rough estimate. That's why I'm telling you to keep that bubble up so you all are safe," he finished as he took his spot near the command chair, letting a sigh before continuing. "Alright, memory don't fail me now." He muttered as he picks up the holographic screen with a flick of his wrist, hovering it over the mechanical instrument that he's prepared to use. Once done his detached robotic fingers began to fly, going above and beyond what a simple digit could do. Each minute he spent with the screen, the ship began to slow ever so slightly and take a more ergonomical direction towards the sea resting a 3,000 feet away from their base of operation. "50 seconds before impact, hold on to something!" With Naruto warning, Steven sprung up his bubble and he plopped himself into the captain's chair, locking in the safety straps for extra precaution. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - brace for impac-" Just as he was prepared to say it, the ship made contact with the glimmering ocean of beach city, disrupting mountains of water from its impact. The beach's waves grew stronger and encompassed more land, not reaching the city thankfully, but the previous shoreline of beach city was now almost nonexistent.

As the water and ecosystem tried to compensate for this drastic change the people within the Warship were not in good shape to say the least. The crystal gems were the better off, seeing as Steven's held up pretty well under pressure and is still keeping form after such a harsh impact; their pilot however was a little winded to say the least. Thankfully, his seatbelt idea was sound, so, once he shook off the impact - he broke out of his seat and tried to assess the damage as best he could. "Is everyone...alright?"

"Define alright?" Amethyst asked belligerently as she picked herself off the ground, her head now throbbing because of the impromptu space ship crash.

"Alive,"

"We're all still functioning," Garnet answered,

"Good," with his mind set to ease, Naruto along with the Crystal Gems made their escape of this wretched ship, making a stop to pick up a blue haired water imp in the process. Slowly, the ascended to the very top of the ship, the sunlight nearly blinding the group as one by one they filed out of the sunken warship, taken in their surroundings as one would take in the devastation of a battlefield.

The crystal gems have returned home and nothing would be the same again.

* * *

 **Naruto and the Crystal Gems have just faced one of their toughest opponents but will that be the end of Jasper? Where did Peridot end up? What will happen with Lapis Lazuli? How will the team react to knowing about Naruto's well kept secret? Find out all and much, much more in the next installment of Naruto: Obsidian Dreams!**

 ***Author's Note*: Hello everyone, I'm glad I was able to update a bit faster than I usually do, I wanted to finish this one on Christmas but….it didn't happen. Now, as you can tell, this ending is different from the original and that's because...well, I kinda want to try and take this fanfiction in a different direction. Now it's not going to be completely different, we'll dip into the OG continuity for important plot details and such but I really want to try and make a new story with this. Make some new twists and turns that you guys won't see coming, some will be happy to hear that and I'm glad and some will be sad about it and I'm sorry but I think if you give it a chance I think you'll enjoy it. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading my story and happy late Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa. Please review so I can hear what you guys thought of the final 'behind the veil' arc and please PM me if you have any questions!**


	15. The Aftermath: A Group Divided

**Chapter 11**

 **The Aftermath: A Group Divided**

 **I own Nothing**

The air hung deadly still over the people of Beach City, each city dweller returning to their city to see their homes and stores alike damaged in some way by this unholy siege of their world by otherworldly beings who decided to use their home front as their playground. Families held themselves close, restaurant owners ran through the damages caused and those who were here for this devastation, well, they were too busy with their own worries to even noticed the human's had returned.

One such distracted gem sat atop the statue that loomed over the Universe Residence, a distinct gem flowing behind him in it's own darkened bubble. His eyes were closed to the beautiful scene before him, a glimmering ocean full of life and empty of the gigantic gem ship that filled it a day prior. His breathing was even, taking in air through the nose and releasing it through his mouth, adding an even rhythm to his chest. He sat cross legged atop the statue's hand as he left his thoughts to drift, hoping to free his mind of what troubled him.

" _Quit fighting it, just stop it!"_

His closed eyelids twitched as his quiet mindset was interrupted by the words of his past. He breathed outwards and shifted in his spot, hoping to calm himself, as he closes his eyes tighter and focuses on the sound of the coming tide.

" _Quit pretending to be something you're not! These...Crystal Gems have stuffed your head with lies! You're not a defender, you're not a rebel...you're my Obsidian,"_

His teeth visibly clenched as he recalled at the memories, his hands now gripping the sides of his pants in frustration.

" _Then why do you resist!? Why do you keep pretending like none of that meant anything to you?!"_

"N-No!" He murmured through his gritted teeth, vigorously shaking his head in hopes that he could lose these voices that are bleeding through his subconscious. The voice of Jasper continued to ring through his head no matter what he did, his mind was a now a minefield, setting off memory after memory of that final battle between the two strained friends.

" _GIVE UP!"_

He now physically shook each time he recalled the devastating hits he took on the receiving end of Jasper's emotionally driven rampage against his face. However, his recoiling soon came to a stop as her last words clung to him, refusing to let him ever forget them.

" _P-Please…D-DON'T!"_

A plea, the strongest Gem he's every had the pleasure to work with used her final words to ask for mercy, her couldn't comprehend such a thing. A part of him was furious, Jasper begged for him to stop even after what she did to him and yet...he'd be lying if another part of himself didn't feel guilt for what he had to do. This was his problem, the confliction; no matter how much he told himself what he did was justified he could not forget the look in Jasper's eyes before he popped her, a sense of fear, a sense of desperation and worst of all, a sense of anguish.

A single tear rolls down his face, a simple whimper squeezing past his tightly clenched lips - it happened, it finally happened - the walls he placed around those memories had finally crumbled, revealing the feelings that he had for his now bubbled friend that he's been denying to himself this whole time. Interactions, missions, fusions, jokes, banter - all of it now flashed before Naruto's eyes like a heart wrenching slide show, all of this was created with the same gem he puffed a day prior.

*Ring, ring, ring ring ring!*

Naruto's lamenting meditation was soon cut short when a light hearted jingle caught his ear, turning back to see Steven standing behind him, his phone in hand and a distressed look across his face. "S-Steven," Naruto muttered, wiping his face clean of tears before addressing his young pupil again. "You scared me, you can't sneak up on someone like that."

"Sorry," he said, his voice dull as his eyes wavered to the ground, seemingly unable to make eye contact with his teacher.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asked,

"Long enough," Steven took a few steps forward before taking a spot next to Naruto.

"...Is everything alright?" Steven held on the question for a bit, merely shifting in his spot on the statue. As he went to answer, his phone rang once again, leading him to stare at it or, more specifically, the name that was printed on it. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

Steven's response was a quick swipe of his phone, cancelling the call. "I can't,"

Obsidian cocked a worried brow at his pupil's answer. "Can't?"

He hesitated, before he answered him. "I don't want to put Connie in anymore danger,"

"Danger?" He questioned once more only to come to the realization of what his student has been trying to tell him. "Oh, I see. You're afraid that she'll be hurt if she's close to you,"

Steven's eyes widened just a hare before returning to his mournful expression. "How did you….i-is it that obvious?"

"It's written all over your face," commented Naruto, placing a caring hand on Steven's shoulder in comfort. "Fear and guilt are hard emotions to hide, Steven."

The young hybrid sighed, "...so, what do you think I should do?"

"What do you think _you_ should do?" Naruto asked in return.

"...I-I don't know, I love Connie, she's one of the closest friends I've ever had but….at the same time, the closer she is to me the easier it is for her to get hurt." Steven answered, gripping his phone tightly between his clasped palms as if waiting for another call to come. "We deal with new and growing threats each week and...Connie's always at risk of getting caught in the middle of it all just because she's my friend. Isn't it...wrong?"

"Wrong?"

Steven's phone rings once more, this time it was a text, but he didn't take the time to read it; merely slamming down the power button for the screen to return to it's usual black screen. "To keep someone around you even though you know it'd be better for them if you weren't."

Observing this scene, Naruto couldn't help but feel for his young friend, "...I don't think I'd be the one you should be asking that question to," he answered, looking to the calming waves of Beach City to help him collect his thoughts on the matter at hand. "Because of me Beach City was used as a battlefield for a squabble between two thick-headed fools. My closest friends and allies were beaten and popped, dragged onto a spaceship and were nearly taken back to their homeworld where they'd surely face death….if I had left you and the Gems alone...maybe this wouldn't have happened,"

Steven didn't have an answer, all he could do was look out across the beach, his mood as somber as the ocean's tide. "...Amethyst told us that you were Yellow Diamond's right hand...is that true?"

That question hung in the air for quite some time, each passing second drawing out the tension of Obsidian's next word. "Yes, it's true." He muttered

From this answer, Naruto turned to face him. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Naruto looked to Steven before standing, extending his hand out towards him as if to offer him some assistance up. "Let's go inside, Steven. I think it's time I tell you all the truth about my past."

 **-Beach House-**

Stepping through the home's threshold, Naruto now stands before the Crystal Gems, three individuals that seemed to be more than willing to avoid him since their little trip into space, well, two of them at least. Amethyst took her spot lounging on the couch, shooting Obsidian a sideways glance before looking back to the ceiling, as if it held more importance to her right now than Obsidian's entrance. Pearl, now standing in the kitchen using the bar to lean against, followed in her shorter teammate's footsteps and merely gave the newly arrived Naruto a glance before returning her gaze back to where it originally sat. Garnet was the only one who be willing to keep a consistent line of sight with the poor gem, giving Naruto a bit more ease about the whole thing, not much but enough to give him the confidence to continue with what he knew he needed to say.

Taking a seat next to the coffee table, Naruto let out a sigh before he began. "I've done something unforgivable to you four." He stated somberly as the group looked on in quiet observation. "Not only have I lied to you four on multiple occasions, I've put this whole group in jeopardy for simply being here. I could not ask for your forgiveness, because I know at this time I do not deserve it, but if I may, I'd like to try and start anew with you all, to tell you four the true story of my past and then we could go from there."

Expecting a wisecrack from Amethyst or a scoff from Pearl, Naruto was surprised to see the group merely exchange glances with one another before gathering around the coffee table in a subtle and almost disturbingly quiet manner. During the months he's been around this group he's grown quite accustomed to their little moments when their character shines through them like glass, they radiated their personality and they wore their heart on their sleeves but now….now they seem numb.

It slowly began to dawn on him as he looked around the table at the blank faces that the gems held, each member locking eyes with anything other than him, he was no longer a Crystal Gems, he was no longer a friend to the group, hell, he wasn't even an acquaintance anymore….he had broken their trust in him and it won't be an easy road to fix but he couldn't give up now. At least he knew that he had some semblance of a bond between Steven and Garnet, if their small discussion today and yesterday had any indication.

So, with another heavy sigh, Naruto closed his eyes and started to tell his story. "It has been a few years now since I've explained everything to anyone so, please, bare with me a moment." he prefixed before diving head first into his assorted past. "I suppose I should answer the question that I've...rather been avoiding since my time here. Yes, I was once the right hand of Yellow Diamond. I stayed her right hand for close to 4,000 years, coming to an end almost 6 years ago after they found out that I was working with the Gem Homeworld Resistance to sabotage their systems of oppression that has plague the lives of millions."

* * *

But...I wasn't always a resistance fighter, that happened later in my career. I first started out like most gems taken from a Kindergarten, in the field, fighting the wars our Diamond wished us to fight. I was stationed with Jasper, at the time I thought nothing of her, she was a strong and driven Jasper prepared to do whatever it took to make her Diamond happy. It was only until my 50th battle on what was suppose to be uninhabited planet that I truly began my rise.

Both Jasper and I were the last standing gems in a sea of enemies, we were trapped within a cave that we found moments before, only having seconds to close it before our enemies began to pour in; our separation from the outside world lasted for three days. We were cut off from any form of communication with the outside world or our ship that was hovering in orbit above that planet, we were trapped in the dark cave with only the dem light of our gems to keep us sane.

Neither of us knew each other back then, we were both grunts stationed together by happenstance and only by luck were we the remaining two to survive, but by the end of that 3 days I could honestly say she was the closest thing I had to a friend on the Gem Homeworld. The desperation and fear of being shattered drove us to do something that, if word got out about it, we'd be shattered on the spot. We fused,

It took hours of discussion for either of us to fully feel comfortable even discussing the topic, let alone actually doing it, but the fact that both of us could be shattered at any moment as more and more of them were slipping through the cracks of the cave drove us forward in our decision making.

We decimated their forces with our combined strength, they never stood a chance against us. We spent hours demolishing everything that planet had to offer up to us as a challenge until, in 5 days time, the planet was now truly uninhabited.

After that, we were brought back as conquering heroes, two gems taking on an entire planet by themselves with nothing but their wit and brute strength, we omitted our little dance together but overall everyone was impressed, including Yellow Diamond. From what Jasper told me, Yellow Diamond had an eye on me the moment I came to the Gem Homeworld; not because of my skill or drive, but my unusual gem type that had not been documented as of yet. Apparently Yellow Diamond has an eye for the exotic,

After that day, Jasper and I began to move up the ladder of succession one dangerous team mission after another. We had such a reputation that Yellow Diamond began sending us an exclusive three gem missions, a pilot to get us to the planet and us to eradicate the remaining population of said planet, that's how we met Peridot. She was assigned to our team to be the pilot of our ship and as a tech consultant. She'd send down hundreds of her Surveillance Robanoids to help us scout out our enemies before we'd ship down to the surface to wipe out our targets...however, this was when our my friendship with Jasper began to turn into something more...addictive.

The power Jasper and I possessed when we fused was...unimaginable, there was a sense of euphoria in our fusion, driving me to desire her companionship more and more, however….I knew that this was a problem. I could feel myself losing all sense of self when I fused with her, we started becoming one instead of the two I prefered us being and while I saw that as a bad thing Jasper couldn't have been happier.

Each time the mission was over I'd defuse immediately so I could finally be myself once again and each time I did this Jasper would get more and more frustrated with me. She wanted it to last longer each time, the more I denied it the more she'd find ways to _make_ me fuse. The last straw was when she put both of us in mortal danger just so we could fuse, we stayed like that for 3 more days, having to defend ourselves against hordes and hordes of this planet's defensive measures. Once we returned home, I was gifted the title as Yellow Diamond's right hand for my bravery and Jasper was given her own personal army, something she desired for quite some time.

After that mission was completed, I began to ask Yellow Diamond for solo missions so I could keep my addiction in check, I blamed Yellow Diamond for our separation and went about my business, hoping my troubles would be over but I was horribly mistaken. After a few decades of moderate peace and ease across the Gem Homeworld, a radical group of resistance fighters began to make their presence known, destroying bases and buildings, defacing the ships of the Diamonds, abducting gem's from their homes and brainwashing them into becoming mindless drones of their ideas, at least, that's how Yellow Diamond described it to me before I given the mission to find and eradicate them.

So I, along with three Rubies for backup, went out across the Gem Homeworld in search of them. After weeks of searching, we came across the only lead we could find, an unusual frequency coming from the 4th moon that surrounded our homeworld. I rushed to go tell Yellow Diamond about this discovery but before I could even make it out of my ship I was popped by my so called 'help' and before I knew what was happening, I was in front of the main leader of the resistance. She was a Rose Quartz, and she was far beyond the Rose you've old me about. the Rose Quartz I met was ruthless, prepared to do whatever to whoever if it meant the freedom of her people.

While I was trapped with this group they began discussing what they wished to do with me, many wanted me shattered so the homeworld would lose one of their strongest figures while a few wished to brainwash me so they could have a mole in the highest rank.

However, Rose decided to do something that none of her members thought of, the told me the truth behind the people I followed. I didn't believe them at first, I thought they were speaking but lies and heresy but soon as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months their supposed heresy was nothing but the cold facts that surrounded my entire existence.

I guess you could say after I began to realize how much of a lie I lived I began to grow more and more sick of myself the longer it dwelled within me. How many species of creatures have I slaughtered under the banner of Yellow Diamond? How many worlds have I sentenced to death by ' _my_ ' Diamond's command? I was a monster, a cold hearted killing machine that merely needed to be pointed in a direction and released so I could do the beading of a sociopathic leader. I was beside myself, I refused to move from my spot for hours at a time, just staring at a wall as I reflected on my so called 'career'. It had gotten so bad that I even thought of shattering myself but I couldn't, seeing as I was still retrained.

After a day of self reflection Rose came into my holding room, sat down in front of me and did the one thing I never thought could happen at the time, she gave me a purpose. She told me that yes, I've done awful things in my past and not, merely repenting for them will not make the things I've done any less real but if I help them destroy the rule of the Diamonds from the inside out I could make sure that no gem would have to face the reality that I had just faced.

So, I turned on my Diamond, my friends and the gems I swore I'd protect so I could free them from themselves. I spent decade after decade implanting resistance members through the ranks of Yellow Diamond's forces, sabotaging any and every mission I could get away with and most importantly, every ounce of information I got my hands on was directly linked to the resistance base. I played my part as the obedian hand perfectly, I never would have thought Yellow Diamond would suspect me, I had grown too cocky for my own good.

I gave word to the resistance that one of Yellow Diamond's many pet projects was about to be finished, she had tasked several individuals to begin work once again on forced fusion experiments and, from the information I could gather, they had made a breakthrough and should be able to stabilize this experiment by tomorrow morning.

With such little time to act, the resistance couldn't do much but send a small group to infiltrate the building and somehow destroy this damned experiment before it was fully operational...by morning, the small infiltration team was captured and were awaiting Yellow Diamond's orders. I tried to pursue Yellow that she could use them for their information so maybe then I could buy enough time to free them but she was too set on shattering them, she wished to make a statement to all who would oppose her and what made it even worse was that when we arrived to see who was captured, Rose was one of them.

I was desperate, Yellow had demanded I shatter them - everyone their was cheering for me to kill them like insects, the wanted to see what the the 'right hand of Yellow Diamond' could do...so, I did what needed to be done. I freed them and bought them some time to escape before I was set upon by Yellow Diamond's wrath. I could barely lift my weapon in defense before I utterly decimated by her. I now know why nobody double crosses a Diamond,

After I was subdued, I was brought back to her chambers where Jasper and Peridot were waiting for our return only to see me in shackles. They tried to defend me before Yellow Diamond, blaming the brainwashing done on me by those 'damned' resistance fighters, that I'd never turn on Yellow Diamond or her cause...it was painful yet heartwarming to see them defend my honor so vehemently...but I couldn't continue living that lie anymore. I told her that I did this on my own volition and that I would never rest until I saw her and all the other Diamond's topple.

* * *

"And...I guess you all know the rest, I was tortured for my information, I escaped and I crash landed here on earth." Naruto uttered, his long tale of his past now finally coming to a close.

"That was….quite a lot to take in," Garnet quipped, gripping her chin in thought over all the information she was just given.

"Yeah, it's a bit much to...ya know, process." Steven muttered as he swiped the 'end call' button once more on his phone, his attention split between two important instances in his life at the moment.

As a silence returned to the beach side home the group merely exchanged looks, none of them seeming to know what needed to be done. However, one of the gems who decided to break the silence was none other than the most silent of them all that day, Amethyst. "Why?" She asked through gritted teeth as she peered towards Naruto through her hair. Unbenounced to any of the gems in the room, the more Amethyst learned about this secret past of Obsidian, the more she began to grind her teeth in frustration. "Why did you lie to us?!"

"I'm...a bit curious about that too," Pearl added, trying to keep a level head in this time of confusion and mixed feelings.

"I think we all are," Garnet finished as all eyes shifted towards the gem in question.

"I lied because...I guess my past still weighed on me," he muttered as he hung his head low, feeling defeated as he explained his reasoning. "Here, on earth, I could become something else, a gem far detached from my sins of the past but...unfortunately, my past began to haunt me, both mentally and physically. Night after night I was gripped with visions of my past deeds, I'm kinda glad my secret was revealed in a way, I'm just not too thrilled with the outcome."

"that's it? You just wanted a...different life?" Steven asked,

"For the most part, yes." He answered, "but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't a bit afraid of what you four would do to me if you heard that I was the right hand of Yellow Diamond."

"That sounds a bit cowardly," Pearl quipped, her original cold personality beginning to shine through once again.

Naruto retorted, "could you honestly say you would have trusted me if I told you that when we first met, Pearl?"

"I _still_ don't trust you." A bit of a denal on her part but Obsidian was in spot to argue.

"...Fair enough," he said somberly. "*sigh* I've been thinking a lot today, about my past and how to go forward with who I am and what needs to be done and I think I came to an understanding. I….I-I don't belong here. You four, you've created a family with one another, a bond that cannot be broken so easily while I just…showed up out of the blue, with only Amethyst's word to keep me on your good sides. What I'm trying to say is that….I think it's time for me to leave,"

Without warning, Amethyst shot forward, her eyes nearly bulging out of her eye sockets as she yelled, "WHAT?!"

"Wait now, let's not get ahead of ourselves, here." Pearl began, trying to calm Amethyst while also addressing Obsidian's wild claim

Garnet was next to speak, trying like Pearl, to be the voice of reason in this situation. "Pearl's right, there's no need to jump to any conclusions."

"I know it seems sudden, Garnet, but I haven't jumped anything. I've been thinking about doing this for a long time now," Naruto stated firmly, "I need to find out who I am and I can't do that here,"

"Wait, wait - hold on! Before we start jumping to conclusions I think I might have the perfect solution!" Steven proclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention.

 **-Barn-**

"Your father's...barn?" Naruto asked as he, Steven and the rest of the crystal gems stood before the barn in question.

"Yeah, it's perfect. You get your own little piece of land to do your soul searching while still in arm's reach." Steven stated matter of factly,

"I mean...that's not a _bad_ idea but...isn't Lapis staying here? Remember, you told her she could stay in the barn after she helped move the Warship here?" Well, that gigantic hand-like warship had to be put somewhere and what better place than Greg's barn full of junk and old memorabilia. Thanks to Lapis's power over water itself, moving the massive ship from the water's of Beach City to Greg's barn wasn't too difficult a feat, now, breaking it down was a bit more of a challenge. To make sure that this ship would never see space again, the gems along with Lapis and Obsidian took it apart piece by large piece, leaving only a few piece still in average condition such as the palm and wrist that made up the ship's core. It wasn't really because they _wanted_ to keep it one piece, but the found that if they tried to separate those pieces the ship's core would start oozing strange yellow chemicals that probably wouldn't be good to leave dripping out of a giant space ship.

Steven merely shrugged, "well, yeah but what's wrong with that? You'll have a roommate to keep you company,"

"Soul searching doesn't really involve company, Steven." Naruto chuckled half heartedly only to regret his little laugh when he saw how distraught Steven's features began.

"I know but...this is the only way we can still be, ya know…" he paused, shifting his sandel against the grass. "A team,"

Naruto was taken aback, for some reason he hadn't even considered how much this would mean to Steven if he left the group, hell, he didn't even think about how the _others_ would react to it. He believed that they hated him after such a lie that he thought ti would be best if they never dealt with him again, for him to vanish from their lives so they could return back to their normal lives. I guess you could say that he's always thought that, that his mere existence was keeping the group from living the life the used to he never thought that...he could possibly be a part of their lives as a mainstay. "Oh Steven….." He cooed as he brought the boy in for a hug, seeing as after this ordeal he needed one desperately. "Alright, I suppose I can do a bit of soul searching here," he conceded as a large grin stretched across Steven's chubby cheeks, "….let's just hope Lapis will be just as excited as you are." And with that, Steven rushed into the barn, prepared to explain the 'great' news to Lapis with Naruto following in toe, or rather, he _was_ going to follow until he noticed Pearl and Amethyst taking their leave of the place, heading directly towards the warp pad. Seeing this as an opportunity Naruto called out, "Amethyst, please wait. I can explain-"

"Don't," she muttered as she stopped in her tracks, "I don't want your explanation!"

"...A-Amethyst….I'm sorry," his dismissal apology fell on deaf ears.

"You don't get it do you?" Amethyst fired back, whipping around to meet him eye to eye, her's now streaming large droplets of tears that broken poor Naruto's heart. "After all of these months together, all the time we've spent with one another you still didn't trust me with this! You lied to my face again and again without even batting an eye, everything you've told me about your life on homeworld was just one big ploy to just...protect yourself!...The Obsidian I knew would never have done that. And what's worse is what you did after you decided to tell us all the truth, you decided to rather run away from us then try to stay and fix this!"

"...Amethyst, it's no-"

"No, Jasper was right...I was wrong about you, I was just holding on to a fantasy," and with that, Amethyst left, running to the warp pad where Pearl waited for her to arrive before ascending through the blinding beam of light.

With a heavy heart Naruto stood by and watched her warp away, unable to come up with a single sentence to condone his actions. "I really messed up, haven't I?" He questioned as Garnet walked to his side.

"She's hurt; she wants you to feel the same pain that she feels inside herself right now. Give her time, you two will build back the relationship you once had or maybe even a better one." Garnet said with a grin, placing a comforting hand on the gem's shoulder.

"How do you know?" He asked, only to answer his own question. "Oh, future vision."

"You don't need future vision to see that, Obsidian" she remarked, "….I mean, Naruto."

"That's the first time I've ever heard you call me that," He smiled, as both he and Garnet started their trek towards the warp pad.

"I thought it was about time I started calling you by the name you wish to go by." She retorted before her face turned more seldom as she addresses her blonde gem once more. "Do you think you'll be alright tonight?"

Naruto nodded in assurance, "I should be fine, Lapis seems alright with me bunking with her just as long as I keep to my side of the barn."

"I wasn't talking about your sleeping arrangements," she remarked. "Are _you_ going to be alright after everything that's happened in the past two days?"

Naruto sighed at the question, "...do you want my honest opinion?" She nodded, "I don't know, yesterday really threw me for a loop. Now not only have I popped and bubbled someone I once considered my closest ally, I've also lost the trust of my friends…..*sigh* I just don't know how to feel right now, Garnet, and I really wish I did. I'm worried about what the future holds, for our group and for what is to come."

"What do you mean?" She wondered,

"Call it a gut feeling but I don't believe homeworld will stop at Jasper," he answered, "Yellow Diamond wants me gone and there's plenty of people that would love to be the one to do it for her,"

Surprisingly, Garnet chuckled, catching Naruto by surprise. "You must have anger quite a lot of people back on homeworld,"

He smiled back, nodding in agreement "yeah, don't remind me. I'm just not too keen on sitting on my hands and waiting for the next strike, ya know?"

"I can put your mind at ease if you'd like," she remarked,

Naruto's eyebrow cocked, "how so?"

"I can give you a glimpse into the future as I did with Steven," Garnet offered, surprising Naruto yet again. "if that's something you want to do, of course."

Stopping in front of the warp pad Naruto paused in thought as a question came to mind, "...should I?"

Garnet returned his question simply, "that's a question you'll have to answer yourself, but I must warn you, seeing into the future can worsen your worries rather than lay them to rest."

He paused for a moment, strucking his chin in thought as they had made their way to the warp pad Garnet needed to get home. After a moment or two of thinking, Naruto had made his decision, "alright Garnet, I'd like to see what my future holds."

She smiled, "alright, close your eyes." He followed her commands as he shut his eyes tight, "now, you're first time can be a bit overwhelming so try to stay focused. Clear your mind, only listen to the sound of my voice." He nodded at her words of wisdom as he prepared himself for the flood of information that was to come….only to feel another sensation entirely, a pair of soft, plump lips pressing against his own, sending a shockwave of heat through his body like never before. Opening his eyes to the outside world he was blindsided by the image of the square mother laying a kiss on his lips, a sight he never thought he'd see.

However, almost at the exact moment Naruto realized what was happening the kiss ended as Garnet pulled back with a satisfied grin on her face while Naruto had a more...perplexed look to his. "W-W-W-W-Why did you-"

"Think of it as a 'thank you' from Sapphire and Ruby for bringing us back together again," she remarked before stepping onto the warp pad. "Well, I best be heading home or they'll start wondering what took me so long, I hope you have a good night and sleep tight, Naruto." And with a single wave goodbye, Garnet was off to go home in a stream of light created by the warp pad she stood on, leaving the flustered Obsidian to contemplate what just happened.

' _S-She just….kissed me,'_ he thought as he raised his hands to his lips, grazing them with the tips of his fingers almost as if he didn't want to ruin the warmth she had left on his lips.

"Well, that was awkward," a voice spoke up during Naruto's...lip touching? Causing the dazed young gem to nearly jump out of his skin as he turned to the source of the voice to see non other than Lapis standing a few feet away.

"What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that, you nearly gave me a heartattack!" Naruto nearly screeched,

"I don't think you could even have a heart attack," Lapis answered numbly,

"It's a figure of speech," he murmured before an idea popped into his head, an idea that brought a crimson streak across his cheeks. "...W-What did you see?"

"Everything," Lapis answered, a small, cheeky smirk appeared on her features.

"Look, it's not what you think-" He began to explain only for Lapis wave off his words.

"I don't know why it happened and I really don't care, it's none of my business. I just came to get you so I can show you which side of the barn is mine, alright?" She explained, taking her leave of the area with Naruto tagging along behind her.

"R-Right," he answered as his mind began to wonder and his body walked as if it were on autopilot. " _Today has been nothing but tiring, some sleep will really do me some good."_

 **-Homeworld-**

"PEARL!" A strong, aggressive voice cut clean through the silence that hung in the Yellow Diamond throne room. A larger than life figure sat within the throne itself, her legs crossed and her arm propping up her leaning head as she watched her loyal little subject run frantically to her call.

"Y-Yes, my Diamond?" Her said pearl answered,

The Diamond merely shifted her gaze downwards as a giant would stare down at an insect. "Any news on the whereabouts of Jasper?"

Pearl grew visibly worried as she bowed her head yet again and began to answer her Diamond's question. "N-No, my Diamond. Her signal has been lost in the Milky Way galaxy, several kilometers away from the third planet closest to the sun." She spoke once more, "we've tried everything to re-establish contact with her with little effect,"

"...Very well, I suppose I should have foreseen this outcome." Her Diamond said, her demeanor quite tame then she was previously. "Jasper's blind obsession with Obsidian would only lead to failure, I won't make the same mistake again."

Pearl sprung forward, her hands clasped together and began to plead, "m-my Diamond, please do not blame yourself for this Jasper's failures. She's-" but her groveling was unwarranted, merely silenced by the large hand of her precious Diamond.

"Pearl, I do not need your groveling. What I need is for you to bring me Black Agate," She ordered, taking the wind out of her Pearl's body.

"...M-My Diamond, you cannot be serious." She murmured,

Yellow shot down a glare towards her lowly servant, one that almost felt like it shifted the very atmosphere in the room. "I don't believe I asked for your opinion, Pearl. Now, do as I command or I might be in the market for another Pearl!"

"Y-Y-YES MY DIAMOND, R-RIGHT AWAY MY DIAMOND!" And as commanded, Pearl scampered off and only returned when she was escorting the desired gem her Diamond wished to see. The gem in question now stood before her leader, her skin as pale as a ghost and her eyes as bright as diamonds. Her body was thin, almost disturbingly so, and her pale complexion clashed with her color scheme of choice, ink black. She wore a thick black trench coat and underneath was a Yellow Diamond sanctioned body suit with black and grey highlights with a single yellow Diamond resting in the center. Her hair stood up in a short, spiked style, fanned out in a neat little ponytail and resting right under her hair rested her black gem of choice, the Agate.

Bowing before her leader, she spoke softly, almost musically as she addressed her so, "you rung, my Diamond?"

"Black Agate, you were stationed under Obsidian, were you not?" Yellow inquired, tapping her temple in anticipation.

The Agate grimaced at her question but answered it as such, "unfortunately, yes my Diamond."

"Unfortunately?" She asked,

"Yes, I feel sickened thinking of being mere feet away from a traitor to our homeworld and yet I was clueless to stop him." She answered with so much venom you'd be surprised she didn't choke on it.

"Well then, you might have a chance to redeem yourself." Yellow stated as she gestured for Black Agate to rise. "A few cycles ago I sent out a Jasper and a Peridot to hunt down Obsidian and bring him back to me but it seems like that task was far too much for these two to handle. So, I'm turning to you, Black Agate; bring me back Obsidian and awaken the cluster in the Beta Kindergarten. If you do that, then you shall take Obsidian's previous position as my right hand."

"R-Right hand…." Agate's eyes widened in abject joy as a sickly sweet smile emerged on her face, as she bowed in respect from such a proposition. "I would be honored, my Diamond. If I may ask, is there a possibility that I can take a team with me? I think we'd have much more success if I could bring my trusty team of 10."

"Bring as much as you need, I was foolish to believe that only a mere Jasper and Peridot could capture one of my old right hands. How many do you desire?" She asked,

Agate merely chuckled, "just my 10, my Diamond. With them on my side, we shall not fail you."

"See to it that you don't, I will not tolerate another failure." She ordered, ushering the gem out of her throne room.

"Of course, my Diamond." And with that, Black Agate stands and leaves the room, hiding the twisted grin that began to creep onto her features. "Oh, and if I may, my Diamond, may I ask just one more favor."

"What is it?" She asked,

"My little... _project_ I've been working on under your supervision, would you be okay with me taking it for a bit of a test run during this mission?" Black Agate asked, Pearl's eyes widening in fear and even Yellow's eyes opened a bit wider than usual.

Yellow sat in silent for a moment before speaking, "...do you believe it to be stable enough? Can it be controlled?"

"Trust me, My Diamond, I've ran every test and did every procession. Our pet project is completely under our command." She assured,

"Very well, it will serve you well on this mission." Yellow answered, "now go, see to it that Obsidian is before me once again."

With one more bow, Black left the room a twisted sneer grew larger and larger the further she was away from sight, " _oh, don't you worry my Diamond, I won't fail. I'll bring back Obsidian piece by PIECE!"_

* * *

 **Hey everybody! Long time, no see, am I right? But seriously, I'm sorry about how long it's been taking me to update, I won't give you a sob story or anything, it's just life that's making it harder and harder for me to sit down and do any form of writing but, so I could put a lot of people's minds at ease, I will not drop this story if I can help it. I have too much fun writing this story and I have so many ideas for the future of this story. Also, I'd like to say thank you all for all of your continued support for this story, the reviews and PM's really keep me driven to go forward with this story again and again. So, without further adew, I hope you all liked this chapter, if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a review or a PM and I'll try to get back to you. If you can, please leave a review so I know how I'm doing and most importantly, thank you all again!**


End file.
